PATNA: Three men were lynched in two separate incidents in Bihar and Jharkhand on Thursday, calling into question the law and order situation in the two neighbouring states.
While two alleged thieves were beaten to death in Bihar’s southern Rohtas district, a man was beaten to death in Jharkhand’s Dumka district for allegedly raping and killing a minor girl.
Baban Musahar, 30, and Murahu Musahar, 32, siblings who belonged to Bihar’s dirt-poor Mahadalit community, were beaten up by about twenty people at Basdiha village under Kochas police station in Rohtas district late on Wednesday night. While Baban died on the spot, Murahu died at a nearby hospital.
Police said the two victims were among a gang of six thieves trying to enter a house past midnight and were caught by the villagers while the rest four managed to flee. “They were beaten up by wooden bricks. A case has been lodged against 15 unidentified villagers. Raids are being conducted to arrest the culprits,” said Satish Kumar, a local police officer.
In Jharkhand’s Dumka district, 30-year-old Mithun Hansda was tied up with ropes to a tree and thrashed mercilessly by an angry mob of villagers early Thursday. The incident happened at Thadihat village under Ramgarh police station.
“Hours after the body of an eight-year-old girl, Sonamuni Marandi, was discovered, the villagers suspected Hansda to have raped and killed him. The girl had gone missing from a wedding ceremony a day ago,” said Roshan Gudiya, the DSP of Ramgarh.
Police sent the bodies of the girl and the lynching victim for post mortem and booked over twenty people for murder. All the accused are currently absconding, said police.
A spate of lynching incidents was reported in Jharkhand last month. Nine people were beaten to death in three separate incidents in a span of eight days by rampaging mobs in southern Jharkhand over child-lifting rumours, which had led to violent protests later.