Hariharpara, May 4: A man, believed to be mentally unstable, battered his six-year-old neighbour to death with a thick wooden stick as four armed policemen stood by in silence.

Sheikh Shamim had come in the way of an enraged Rafiqul Sheikh, a 28-year-old agricultural labourer from Choabilpara village in Murshidabad’s Hariharpara, as he was rushing home, having chased away the policemen brought by his parents to arrest him.

Nawazir Sheikh and Rizia Bibi believe their son has “probably turned mad” since his wife left him and it was dangerous to let him roam free.

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 the Hariharpara police station and asked them to arrest their son.

“We told the police that our son has probably turned 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 wooden stick to chase away the policemen. They fled in panic,” Nawazir said.

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

He said he had also tried telling the policemen — they included an assistant sub-inspector — to shoot Rafiqul in the legs.

Rafiqul then rushed back towards his house and ran into little Shamim. He hit the boy on the head with the stick till his skull broke. The four policemen had come back by then but didn’t lift a finger.

“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 also stoned the two jeeps that had brought the policemen and refused to hand over Shamimn’s body.

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 watched. They should have stopped the youth 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 taken to the Hariharpara police station lock-up.