Karesha Begam. Picture by Gopal Senapati

Sheikh Jainul Abedin Khan, the Tikiapara resident murdered for deposing against two criminals in a rape case, was a hero in his locality.

He had arranged funds for the education of scores of children and the marriage of several young women in the largely poor area, said neighbours.

After taking voluntary retirement from Burn Standard at the age of 33 in 1999, Khan had devoted as much time to social work as to the family’s electroplating business.

Relatives, friends, neighbours and those he had helped, including over 100 women, demonstrated at Howrah police station, demanding the arrest of Wasim Quresi and Wakil Quresi, the prime accused in his murder. Policemen parroted their line for the past 48 hours, that they would soon be arrested.

Despite being repeatedly threatened by the two, who are out on bail after being held for the rape of a 12-year-old, Khan had deposed against them and encouraged the other four witnesses in the case to do the same.

“Wasim and Wakil murdered Khan not only because he was the prime witness but also because they realised that the other four would back out if he wasn’t there. He had brought down the crime rate in the area by ensuring that youngsters stayed in school and was becoming a thorn in the flesh of criminals,” said a resident.

The courage that Khan, who was divorced and childless, showed is small consolation for his mother Karesha Begam. “I pleaded with him to be careful. He would only say that those who had raped a child must be punished and ask me not to worry,” the 75-year-old, who has lost her eyesight, recalled sitting in the family’s two-storey house in Nur Mohammad Munsi Lane.

Khan’s death has devastated his nephews and nieces. His 21-year-old niece Nuzhat Fatema, who is pursuing a master’s in English at Calcutta University, said: “When my cousins or I needed books, we did not approach our fathers: we went to Jainul-abu.”