Boy pays with life for two litchis

Bhagalpur: A 12-year-old differently abled boy had to pay with his life for stealing two litchis from a neighbour’s orchard at Nabtolia Chak on the outskirts of Bhagalpur town.

He, along with some friends of the same age group, had managed to pluck two small fruits on Sunday but were caught and thrashed, resulting in his death.

However, personnel from the Zero Mile police station under which the area falls promptly arrested two men in their late-20s and their married sister for committing the alleged crime.

According to Chutu Mandal, the uncle of the 12-year-old Aman, a student of Class IV in Government Middle School, Babupur, the accused are sons and daughter of Bindeshwari Mandal, another resident of Nabtolia Chak.

“On May 21, Aman and three of his friends somehow reached Mandal’s orchard, where four litchi trees were laden with the luscious fruits. Hardly Aman had managed to pluck two litchis, the members of the Mandal family spotted the boys in the act. They chased the boys and all boys except for Aman managed to flee. He was caught and beaten up mercilessly for more than three hours by brothers Prabhakar and Pravash Mandal, who used to drive autorickshaws on the Bhagalpur-Sabour road. Their married sister, Asha (26), too joined her brothers in punishing the boy,” Chutu narrated to the police officers.

“Aman didn’t inform anybody about the incident at home. But he was not normal. When his condition started deteriorating, we admitted him to a local nursing home in Tilka Manjhi locality. On the evening of May 22, his condition turned serious and we had admit him to Jawaharlal Nehru Medical College and Hospital, where he succumbed to his injuries on May 23. His friends who had accompanied him to the orchard narrated the incident to us after his death,” said Chutu.

Choton Mandal, Aman’s father, is a daily wage labourer in Delhi. Her mother, Rinku Devi, a vegetable vendor, registered a complaint with Zero Mile police station on the basis of which station house officer Ranjan Kumar arrested the trio and forwarded them to court. The siblings were sent to jail after court production.

“Aman didn’t inform us anything but even while being unconscious, he kept demanding two litchis from us so that he could return them to the people who had beaten him up. We were shocked to see the deep patches on his body after his death – the mark of torture his tormentors inflicted on Aman,” said Rinku Devi as she broke down at the police station. She also revealed that the Mandals earlier had an altercation with them.

The doctor at the nursing home said the boy was admitted with several injury marks on his body and had also suffered brain injuries.

Mandal and his wife was unavailable for comment.

Station house officer Ranjan Kumar said police interrogated Sonu, Monu and Chandan, the friends of Aman, who went to the Mandals’ orchard to pluck litchis and got the same version as narrated by the family members of the boy earlier. “We are waiting for the autopsy report and will file a chargesheet soon in the case to ensure a speedy trial and punishment for the culprits,” the SHO said.

Courtesy: The Telegraph