A youth was allegedly beaten to death by a neighbour in the capital’s Jatrabari area on Monday evening.

The deceased was identified as Rifat Mridha, 18, a resident of Khan Bari intersection in Rayerbagh under Jatrabari Police Station.

The incident occurred in front of Rifat’s house around Monday evening. He was taken to Dhaka Medical College Hospital in critical condition, where doctors declared him dead around 9:30pm.

Rifat, son of Hashem Mridha hailed from Chanpura village in Dashmina upazila of Patuakhali. He used to work at a carton factory and lived with his family in Rayerbagh.

Rifat’s father said his son was sitting on the road in front of their house when a neighbour named Shakil came there and asked him why he was sitting there and whether he wanted to smoke marijuana.

“Rifat replied that he did not take marijuana and accused Shakil of doing so. Following the exchange, Shakil started abusing and beating him,” Hashem said.

He said the matter was initially settled, but after some time Shakil returned and again assaulted Rifat with punches, kicks and blows. At one point, Rifat lost consciousness and Shakil fled the scene.

Family members later rescued him and took him to a local hospital. As his condition deteriorated, he was shifted to Dhaka Medical College Hospital, where doctors declared him dead.

Hashem alleged that Shakil and his mother lived in a rented house beside their residence and fled after locking the house following the incident.

Inspector Md Faruk, in-charge of the DMCH police outpost said the body has been kept at the hospital morgue and the matter has been reported to the concerned police station.