Hariharpara, May 4: A suspected mentally unstable man battered his six-year-old neighbour to death in front of four armed policemen who could not decide whether to heed his own father’s cries to shoot him in the legs.

The same policemen had earlier fled after being pursed by Rafiqul Sheikh, a 28-year-old agricultural labourer from Murshidabad’s Hariharpara, who pounced upon the child, Sheikh Shamim, while returning from the futile chase.

Rafiqul’s parents — Nawazir Sheikh and Rizia Bibi — believe their son has “probably gone mad” since his wife left him.

After Rafiqul’s wife of six months went to her parents’ home last month, accusing him of being a drunkard and beating her up, he turned his ire on his parents.

Police said Rafiqul had been threatening to kill them for the last two days. Scared, Nawazir and Rizia had been staying at a neighbour’s house at night.

This morning, they went to Hariharpara police and asked them to arrest Rafiqul.

“We told the police that our son has probably gone mad and can kill anybody any time if he is allowed to roam free. Four policemen took us back to the village. When we reached home, Rafiqul had locked himself in a room. We banged on the door, but he did not respond. Suddenly, he opened the door and came out carrying a thick piece of wood to chase the policemen away. They fled in panic,” Nawazir said.

“When I looked at my son’s eyes, I saw madness in them.”

Nawazir said he had also tried telling the policemen — they included an assistant sub-inspector — to shoot Rafiqul in the legs, which a senior officer later said they should have done.

Rafiqul then rushed back towards his house and ran into little Shamim. He hit the boy on the head with the piece of wood till his skull broke. The policemen had come back by then.

“It was a dastardly crime. Even though Rafiqul is my son, I want to see him hanged,” Nawazir said.

Nearly 400 villagers gathered at the spot and beat up Rafiqul. They refused to hand over Shamim’s body to the police.

Deputy superintendent of police Utpal Ganguly arrived with a contingent and pacified the crowd.

“It is surprising that a man beat a child to death and four armed policemen just stood and watched. They should have stopped him by shooting at his legs. I will recommend departmental action against them,” the DSP said.

The four have been told to stay at the Behrampore police lines until further orders.

Rafiqul was arrested and taken to the Hariharpara block hospital. After he was discharged, he was lodged in the Hariharpara police station lock-up.