The accused, Ajit Majid Khan, a resident of Ambernath township in Thane district, last night questioned his son Sajid as to why he was neither studying nor attending school for several days.
When the boy could not give any satisfactory reply, Khan, in a fit of anger, beat him up severely with a stick on his head following which he became unconscious, Shivaji Nagar police station inspector D S Gavade said.
The neighbours rushed the boy to a local health unit for medical assistance. He was later being shifted to Thane Civil Hospital when the boy succumbed on way near Mumbra, police said.
The boy's mother had separated from Khan about five years back and since then the victim was living with his father.
He has been booked under section 302 (murder) of the IPC against the accused and further investigations are on, they added.