A farm owner and a caretaker in Karnataka’s Uttara Kannada district were booked on charges of murder, among others, on Friday after a nine-year-old boy died when his younger brother allegedly playfully pressed the trigger of an air gun that was in the caretaker’s custody.
The incident occurred on Friday morning at a farm at the Somanahalli Chipagi village near Sirsi.
Kariyappa Basappa Undi, the son of a daily wage earner, was killed after being hit by a pellet from an air gun that was accidentally fired by his seven-year-old sibling, who was playing with the gun.
The incident was captured on a CCTV camera at the farm, which shows Kariyappa falling to the ground after his younger brother pulls the trigger on an air gun held by the caretaker, Nitish Gouda, 40. The shooting is seen happening at close range.
After Kariyappa’s mother, Pavitra Basappa Undi, 28, filed a police complaint, the Sirsi police booked Gouda, and Raghav Hegade, 62, a farm owner, for murder and under the Indian Arms Act for possession of a firearm without a licence.
Raghav Hegade’s brother, Ganapathi Hegade, owned the farm where the incident occurred. Raghav, who owned the neighbouring farm, had come to visit when the accidental shooting occurred.
According to Pavitra’s police complaint, her family was employed as workers on Ganapathi’s farm and was staying on the property. Raghav had allegedly obtained an unlicensed air gun and used Gouda’s services to chase away monkeys from the farm.
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“The children used to play around the house and the farm on holidays. Gouda had previously shouted at the children and tried to prevent them from playing. He was nursing a grudge against them and had complained that they were annoying,” Pavitra alleged in her complaint.
“On September 5, when the children were playing at the farm, the caretaker used the airgun and fired at my son Kariyappa,” she further alleged.