Author: Our Correspondent
Publication: The Telegraph
Date: October 19, 2002
URL: http://www.telegraphindia.com/1021019/asp/bengal/story_1304934.asp
A class-lX student was stabbed to
death by drunk assailants when he tried to resist their attempts to assault
his mother near the Nabagram hospital quarters last night.
The accused, Centre Shaikh, has
been arrested.
According to Murshidabad superintendent
of police Birendra, Shaikh and a couple of his inebriated friends were
walking past the quarters when they bumped into Menaka Saha.
When she objected to their misbehaviour,
Shaikh and his mates started abusing Menaka and tried to assault her.
Sixteen-year-old Motilal came to
his mother's rescue and tried to thwart the drunks. But a dagger was pierced
through his abdomen.
Menaka and her younger son Locus
were injured when they tried to save Motilal. They had to be admitted to
the Behrampore General Hospital.
Shaikh's companions managed to escape.
Menaka, whose husband Makhan is
an employee of the Nabagram hospital, said: "We have been living in the
hospital quarters for a long time. As there is no boundary wall around
the hospital, residents of adjoining Fakirpara use the road in front of
the quarters. I protested when the drunk men made indecent remarks about
me. They even tried to assault me. When Motilal tried to resist, he was
repeatedly stabbed."
"He sacrificed his life to save
my honour," she added, tears rolling down her cheeks.
The murder sparked massive resentment
among local residents and the hospital employees, who resorted to a spontaneous
ceasework.
Nabagram's block medical officer
Swapan Sarkar said: "They demanded exemplary punishment for all those responsible
for Motilal's death, immediate construction of a boundary wall around the
hospital and a permanent police picket at the murder site."
Sarkar has sent a "detailed report"
on the incident to the chief medical officer of the district. He admitted
that outsiders had an easy access to the hospital campus in the absence
of a boundary wall.
