A seven-year-old boy was beaten with a wooden slab by his “influential” neighbour for 20 minutes until he died in the presence of four policemen who remained mute spectators. The incident occurred at Choha Bilpara village in Murshidabad’s Hariharpara police station on Sunday morning.

The victim has been identified as Sheikh Shamim and the policemen belong to a police station that had been labelled as model by none other than Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee a few years back.

The policemen also allowed the accused to flee the spot. Following this, irate villagers, mainly women, attacked the police, damaged their jeep and gheraoed them for hours.

According to the police, accused Sheikh Rakibul and the boy’s father Sheikh Ashabul were neighbours and distant relatives. They were also involved in a long-standing land dispute. To settle the matter, Rakibul called in the police on Sunday.

Around 7.30 a.m., Rakibul along with four policemen including one sub-inspector and three constables visited Ashabul’s house. On hearing about the visit, Ashabul fled and took shelter in a nearby house.

The policemen searched the house but could not find Ashabul. Enraged, a desperate Rakibul got hold of a wooden plank and started beating Shamim with it.

The Class I student of Choha Bilpara primary school pleaded for mercy, but his pleas fell on deaf ears. In the meantime, Ashabul heard the screams and rushed to rescue his son. With his folded hands, he reportedly asked the cops to rescue his son. But the men in uniform did not move.

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