7-year-old Muslim boy found murdered in Azamgarh; Neighbour arrested
Azamgarh boy’s murder a horrific act of hatred, symptom of a diseased society: Pawan Khera
Azamgarh: The brutal killing of a seven-year-old Muslim boy in Uttar Pradesh’s Azamgarh district has triggered shockwaves across the state, with police arresting two men and political leaders condemning the crime as an outcome of deepening hatred.
The boy, identified as Shahzeb, went missing on Wednesday evening after returning from tuition classes. His body was found the next morning stuffed inside a sack and hanging from a gate in the Sidhari locality. According to his relatives, neighbour Shailendra Kumar Nigam, also known as Mantu, was the last person seen with Shahzeb and allegedly murdered him as part of a ritual sacrifice to a deity.
Police registered a kidnapping case late Wednesday night and subsequently arrested Nigam along with another man, Raja Nigam, in a joint operation. Officials claimed both sustained injuries while attempting to escape during an encounter. Weapons, including pistols and cartridges, were seized. Authorities stated that the motive is still under investigation and that action will follow once the postmortem report is received.
The family described Shahzeb, the eldest of three siblings, as a bright and intelligent child, and expressed anguish over the betrayal by a neighbour with whom they had previously maintained cordial relations.
The killing has provoked widespread condemnation. Senior Congress leader Pawan Khera, Chairman of the AICC Media and Publicity Department, said the incident reflected the “diseased, rotten state of society” where a neighbour could murder a child in the name of teaching a lesson to ‘Mullahs.’ He emphasised that this was not a momentary lapse of humanity but “terror, plain and deliberate — rehearsed in cruelty, protected by silence, legitimised by impunity.”
Religious leaders, including the Rashtriya Ulama Council, visited the grieving family and demanded stringent punishment.
What a diseased, rotten society we have been reduced to that a hindu neighbour can murder a seven-year-old muslim boy, stuff his dead body into a gunny bag and hang him from a gate just so he could teach a lesson to the ‘Mullahs.’
— Pawan Khera đŸ‡®đŸ‡³ (@Pawankhera) September 26, 2025
Repeat this in your heads - 7 year old child.… https://t.co/scoWqoa4oD
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