LUCKNOW: In a tragic incident, a woman from Chhattisgarh was lynched by villagers on suspicion that she was a member of a gang involved in theft, in Bhabhai village of Chitrakoot district in the Bundelkhand region of Uttar Pradesh.
According to police sources, the woman, identified as Devanti, 53, hailed from Rajnandgaon district of the tribal state of Chhattisgarh. She had travelled alone to Janki Kund Eye Hospital in Satna, Madhya Pradesh, for treatment.
The police sources added that she was passing through a village under Karwi police station area on the MP–UP border when the villagers caught hold of her on Saturday and allegedly beat her to death on suspicion that she was associated with a gang involved in recent thefts in the area.
The police authorities said that upon receiving information about the incident on Saturday afternoon, a team of officers rushed to the spot and rescued the woman. She was first taken to a local health centre, where doctors, after providing preliminary treatment, referred her to the district hospital in Chitrakoot. However, the victim succumbed to her injuries on the way.
Police later recovered the victim’s Aadhaar card along with an admission slip from Janki Kund Eye Hospital from her belongings. The eye hospital where she had come for treatment is just three kilometres from Bhabhai village, where the assault took place.
The police authorities contacted her relatives and informed them about the incident. The victim’s kin reached Chitrakoot on Monday, after which her body was sent for a post-mortem examination.
According to Chitrakoot Superintendent of Police Arun Kumar Singh, “An FIR would be registered in the case after receiving a formal complaint from the victim’s family.”
Officials said Rajnandgaon is nearly 550 kilometres from the village. The Janki Kund Eye Hospital, where she was seeking treatment, is regarded as one of the leading eye hospitals in the region.
Sources said the family was initially reluctant to lodge a complaint but later agreed to proceed with the case.
The initial probe indicated that the woman had got herself admitted to the eye hospital, where doctors advised her to undergo surgery. Sometime later, she left the hospital as her operation was not scheduled for Sunday and strayed into Bhabhai village.
The police sources said that the villagers grew suspicious as the victim was not able to respond to them clearly, and they allegedly assaulted her.
Police added that several incidents of theft had been reported in Bhabhai village in the recent past, and the villagers had become vigilant with round-the-clock patrols in and around the village to trace the culprits.
According to district police authorities, the woman had first entered UP from Sonbhadra district and then reached Satna. Police are collecting more details from the deceased’s family and have detained a few villagers for interrogation.