Mystery shrouds the death of a nine-year-old boy, Jeetu Mishra, who collapsed in the washroom of his brother-in-law’s house at Ramnagar in Kadma on Wednesday morning.

The boy, who had injury marks on his entire body, was rushed by his brother-in-law Nishant Mishra to Tata Main Hospital where doctors on emergency duty declared him brought dead.

As the boy was a resident of Chainpur village in Saharsa district of Bihar and his parents were at the native place, the body was still at the TMH’s morgue till the filing of the report around 6pm on Thursday.

Police have seized the body for post-mortem.

Officer in-charge of Kadma police station Ranjit Kumar said: “We suspect the boy might have fallen victim to foul play. We are yet to get any complaint from the victim's family who are in Saharsa. But we will initiate action only after taking a statement from the victim's father or guardian.”

Jeetu was the only son among the four children of his father, Santosh Mishra, a farmer.

The victim's elder sister, Kajo Mishra, was married last year in Jamshedpur and after the wedding Kajo had for the first time returned to her parents in Saharsa along with her husband Nishant and his mother Mamta Mishra in March first week and when they returned to Jamshedpur they took Jeetu to celebrate Holi at the steel city.

Jeetu, a Class III student, could not return to Saharsa because of the lockdown imposed since March 22.

Jeetu's father is yet to come to terms with the sudden demise of his son and last heard he has boarded a vehicle with his younger brother, Kanhaiya Mishra, to Jamshedpur.

Kanhaiya said over the phone that Nishant and Mamta must have inflicted fatal injuries to his nephew.

“Since the past fortnight, Nishant and his mother had been telling us to take Jeetu back because he was creating problems in their house and because of the lockdown we were not in a position to bring him back. But we had requested Nishant to drop the boy at the house of Dharmendra Thakur who is also our relative and stays at Kadma. But Nishant and his mother did not listen to our pleas,” Kanhaiya said.

Kanhaiya said they have heard that there were marks of injuries on Jeetu's body, suggesting that he must have been beaten up.

“Once we reach Jamshedpur, we will request the police to get the case thoroughly probed and take action against Nishant and his mother if it is established to be a case of murder,' said the victim's uncle.