Three children nearly killed their friend while enacting Dhananjoy Chatterjee's hanging at Kalabagan village in Bankura district of West Bengal.

Four children, aged between 10 and 12, who went to graze goats in Soilbandha jungle near the village on Tuesday decided to stage a mock hanging on the lines of Chatterjee's recent hanging in Kolkata on August 14, which was splashed across all the newspapers.

Also Read Dhananjoy Chatterjee hanged Dhananjoy Chatterjee takes comfort in bhajans Hanging: The deadly procedure Death row: Complete coverage

Police said 10-year old Ismail was given the role of the convict and three others were enacting the roles of the hangman, doctor and jail superintendent.

They prepared makeshift gallows with forest wood and tied Ismail to the structure with a 'lungi' and signalled for the final order by waiving a handkerchief, the police said.

When the boy cried out in pain, his friends panicked and brought him down from the makeshift structure. The boy was rushed to a rural hospital where he was treated and discharged, the police said.

His parents Anwar Ali Khan and Mastejax Bibi said their son was lucky enough to have escaped unhurt.