Papia Bhattacharya, 41, with daughter Neha, 12, outside the Alipore fast track court on Tuesday after her husband Deepak was sentenced to seven years of rigorous imprisonment for causing the death of their son Biswadeep in January 2007. “He should be imprisoned for life so that my daughter can lead a normal life without fear,” said Papia. Picture by Bishwarup Dutta

Deepak Bhattacharya, 45, convicted of physical assault leading to the death of his 14-year-old son Biswadeep, was on Tuesday sentenced to seven years of rigorous imprisonment with a fine of Rs 2,000.

Deepak’s wife Papia and his 12-year-old daughter Neha looked scared after the verdict — not at the thought of him being behind bars for so long, but at the thought of him walking free after five years (as he has already spent two years in jail).

“I am not happy with the judgment. He should be imprisoned for life for the crime he committed,” said Papia, minutes after the fast track fifth court judge Pradip Barman announced the verdict.

“I have lost my son to his torture. I don’t want to lose my daughter as well. He has already threatened us with dire consequences once he comes out of prison,” a distraught Papia told Metro later in the day, at their Bansdroni home.

Papia was the first to bear the brunt of Deepak’s foul temper and tendency to hit without provocation. “He used to beat me up all the time. Once I forgot to tell him about a phone call from office and he threw a chair at me. He also tore my earlobe but warned me not to tell anyone. I had to tell the doctor that my son had pulled at it accidentally,” said Papia, 41, reliving the horror of living with the enemy.

Biswadeep became Deepak’s favourite punching bag after he started playing table tennis. When the boy would practise on the third floor of their house, his father would hit him regularly.

“Deepak would often beat Biswadeep and even Neha continuously for hours. When he was tired he would take a breather and then resume the beating. He did not stop till they bled,” said Rupam Acharya, Papia’s brother.

Tales of the monster dad came tumbling out. “Deepak would stamp on Biswadeep’s chest and bite him till blood came out. He would tie up the boy, strip him and hit him,” said Rupam. The 14-year-old boy had run away from home a couple of times and gone as far as Patna and Siliguri to escape his father’s beatings.

The final blow — for missing a shot during practice — came around 9am on January 8, 2007, when Deepak first hurled a shoe and then a table tennis bat that hit Biswadeep in the lower abdomen. The boy collapsed in pain and died of internal haemorrhage before reaching the hospital.

After the verdict on Tuesday Deepak said that he could not accept the term “found guilty” because it was an accident. “I did not want to kill my son. I have a daughter and I am a cardiac patient with a pacemaker so I plead that the period of my punishment be reduced,” he told the judge.

Deepak’s lawyer Arup Ghosh said they would move high court. Public prosecutor Utpal Ghosh later said that according to law the maximum punishment should have been 10 years but it was reduced to seven years because of Deepak’s health condition.

“I want my daughter to lead a normal life where she can pursue her studies and sports freely without being afraid of being beaten up all the time,” said Papia.

“He never let me go out. He would be angry if I spoke to neighbours or friends,” Neha said softly, sitting next to her mother in a dark salwar kameez.