Picking mangoes from neighbours' trees by pelting them with stones is part of fond childhood memories for many. But for the family and friends of seven-year-old Tanjila, this childish mischief will always be a cruel and painful memory.

On Sunday morning, Tanjila went out with her friend Moslema to get mangoes from a neighbour's tree in Araihazar upazila of Narayanganj, and then she was found dead at the house of the neighbour.i

The half-closed eyes of the little girl's frail, lifeless body at Narayanganj General Hospital morgue were a reminder of how children in the country are often treated brutally over trivial     matters.

Tanjila, a student of class-II of Srinibashi Government Primary School, and her friend Moslema were throwing brick chips at mangoes at the garden of Chhadu Mia around 9:30am.

At one stage, Chhadu caught Tanjila. With rage, he struck a blow to her chest. 

Making his confessional statement before Narayanganj Chief Judicial Magistrate Saiduzzaman Sharif, 50-year-old Chhadu said, "I wanted to give her a slap on the back, but it fell on her chest and instantly, she fell on the ground and blacked out." 

He carried Tanjila to his room and poured water over her head in vain to bring her to consciousness, he told the court.

Bewildered by the turn of the event, Chhadu left the body in the room and went out a couple of times to smoke cigarettes at an adjacent shop.

Around noon, he put the body in a plastic bag and kept it on a shelf of a wooden almirah, according to his statement.

"I planned to dump the body somewhere later that night," he told the magistrate.

Tanjila's friends, who witnessed the incident, informed the villagers about it.

The locals then caught Chhadu, beat him up and handed him over to police.

Shakhawat Hossain, officer-in-charge of Araihazar Police Station, said police recovered Tanjila's body from Chhadu's house in the afternoon.

Victim's father Rabiul Islam filed a murder case against Chhadu, his two brothers Mostafa, 50, and Harun, 60, and nephew Mozammel, 35.

Chhadu's two siblings and nephew were yet to be arrested.

Tanjila, the youngest of three children of Rabiul and Hosne Ara, was buried after an autopsy. 

"I hope no one would ever have to go through such a tragic episode," Rabiul said, demanding exemplary punishment for his daughter's murderers.

Meanwhile, students and teachers of Tanjila's school yesterday protested the incident and demanded justice.