A five-year-old boy was thrown into a funeral pyre following a dispute over a cremation site in the Madhepura district of Bihar.

The boy suffered burn injuries on his legs before he was pulled out by the villagers in the nick of time.

Amit Kumar, a resident of Basgarha village under Udakishanganj police station in Madhepura district, was thrown into a burning pyre after a dispute between two villagers, Muni Ram and Shambhu Mehtar, over the place where a body was being cremated.

According to reports, Ram's family members were cremating the body of their relative Prakash Ram in a ground near their house when his neighbour Shambhu arrived and objected.

This resulted in a verbal dual between the two families.

During the fight, Shambhu argued that the body should not be cremated near the place where they are living.

As their fight escalated, Shambhu's son Amit Kumar, who had also reached the spot, was held aloft and thrown into the funeral pyre. The child sustained burn injuries before being rescued by villagers who were present on the spot.

Amit was subsequently taken to a nearby primary health centre for the treatment of burn injuries, which he received on his legs.

Based on Shambhu's complaint, the police lodged an FIR in this connection. Udakishanganj Station House Officer KB Prasad said that a case has been filed and an FIR lodged in connection with the incident and investigations are on.

This is the second instance of inhuman treatment meted out to a child during a fight between neighbours recently in Bihar.

Last week, a 10-year-old boy was thrown into a well after a fight between two neighbours at Masaurhi in Patna district. He was, however, rescued by the police later on with the help of villagers.