CHANDIGARH: Police are investigating a doctor couple for the death of their 11-year-old son, who died when they allegedly tried to transfuse his blood to his elder brother, Abhishek. The couple apparently wanted to make the elder brother better at studies and the mother had been advised to go for the transfusion by a guru in her dream.

Dr Ashok Malik, who retired from the Postgraduate Institute of Medical Science, Rohtak, has been remanded in police custody for three days. His wife Dr Promila Malik, a professor at the institute, is under psychiatric care after she attempted suicide.

Police said the horrific death of 11-year-old Piyush Malik at his own parents’ hands took place on October 1. However, Rohtak police managed to crack the case only on Wednesday, when Ashok confessed and the couple was arrested on a murder charge.

The couple had initially claimed that the family was attacked and the boy had died as a result. But police said Ashok broke down under intense questioning. The couple’s colleagues say they couldn’t imagine the Maliks could have done such a thing.

“I have known the couple for years,” said Dr S S Sangwan, director of PGIMS. “Dr Promila Malik is good-natured, an efficient anaesthetist, and an excellent teacher who has been performing her duties to perfection in the institution. The horrifying deed is most shocking, unfortunate, and has jolted all of us.”

Though Dr Promila Malik is under psychiatric treatment now, she has no previous record of abnormal behaviour.

“This is why it’s more shocking and unexpected,” said Dr Sangwan. “She’s been perfectly normal all this while. How could she do this?”

Dr Ashok Malik had been retired three years before his full service term. He had since been working with a hospital in Amritsar. He was facing a decade-old departmental inquiry about his performance.

Hanif Quereshi, SP, said the clues that led to the solving of the case were the syringes, needles, a havan kund, burnt cigarettes, and pooja items found at the house. He said some surgical marks seen on Piyush and Promila looked suspicious.

“If there were any outside attackers they would not have attacked using surgical instruments,” said Quereshi. Under service rules, Dr Promila Malik will be suspended.

Meanwhile, Abhishek is battling for his life in a hospital.