PATNA: A 40-year-old man was lynched to death by a mob after ascertaining his religious identity in Bihar’s Nawada district, raising questions over the law-and-order situation prevailing in the state under the leadership of new Home Minister Samrat Chaudhary.
The victim, Mohammad Athar Hussain, died on Friday night while undergoing treatment for injuries sustained during the mob attack on December 5 under Roh police station limits in Nawada district. He was a native of Gagan Dih village under Laheri police station limits in Nalanda district.
Before his death, Hussain alleged that he was targeted because of his religious identity. He was admitted to Biharsharif Sadar Hospital after the incident and succumbed to his injuries late Friday night. His relatives said Hussain used to sell clothes in rural areas of neighbouring Nawada district.
Recounting his trauma, Hussain said that a group of four to five men forcibly stopped him, checked his pockets, dragged him into a room and made him reveal his religious identity. “They beat me with iron rods, broke my fingers and trampled on my chest,” he said.
Hussain said that more attackers later joined them. “They poured petrol on my body and attempted to set me afire. Before that, the attackers used pliers to crush my feet, fingers and ears, and struck me with bricks. My repeated pleas to spare me fell on deaf ears,” he said in a video.
Hussain used to sell clothes in Roh and surrounding areas of Nawada to support his family.
“He was the sole breadwinner of the family. He had been in the business for the last 20 years, but he never faced any trouble. What went wrong and why he was targeted is to be probed by police,” his wife Shabnam Parveen told the media.
Shabnam Parveen lodged a case against 10 named accused and 15 unidentified individuals. Police have so far arrested four suspects — Sonu Kumar, Ranjan Kumar, Sachin Kumar and Shri Kumar. “Raids are underway to arrest the remaining accused,” said Ranjan Kumar, station house officer (SHO) of Roh police station.
The SHO confirmed that the FIR was filed immediately after the attack and that an investigation is underway. “We have taken serious note of the incident, and the accused will not be spared. They will be dealt with sternly,” he assured the deceased’s family.
The postmortem was conducted under the supervision of a magistrate. A forensic team also visited the spot and collected evidence.
The incident is part of a disconcerting pattern in Nawada, which has witnessed multiple mob-lynching cases in 2025 alone, including the fatal beating of two youths in February and an attack on an elderly couple in August over witchcraft allegations.