Mentally-Challenged Man Lynched Over Child-Lifting Rumours in MP
A local court sent 10 people to judicial custody in the incident.
In yet another incident of lynching, a mentally-challenged man was killed by villagers suspecting him of being a child-lifter in this Dindori district of Madhya Pradesh, police told PTI on Wednesday, 8 August.
This is the second case of lynching reported from Madhya Pradesh in a month.
Click here for the complete list of mob lynchings since 2015
WHAT WE KNOW
The incident took place at Singwar, 40 km from the district headquarters, on 28 July. The area is pre-dominantly tribal.
The deceased was identified as Mukesh Gond, 27, a resident of Anuppur district.
Gond, who was apparently mentally-challenged, could only tell that he was from Annupur. The accused allegedly started beating him, calling him "bachcha chor" (child-lifter), the PTI report said.
WHO ARE THE ACCUSED
The probe revealed that four villagers – Jagdish, Chetram, Sanjay and Gangaram – were drinking on the night of 28 July when they saw Gond wandering near a school building.
The accused grabbed him and started beating him. Soon, more people gathered and he was beaten with sticks mercilessly before they tied stones to his body and dumped him in a well, SP Karthikeyan told the news agency.
Police arrested ten persons. They were were produced before a local court, which sent them to judicial custody on Monday, a report by The Indian Express said.
Earlier, a mentally-ill woman was lynched on 19 July, also on suspicion of being a child-lifter in Singrauli district of Madhya Pradesh.
With a spate of such incidents across the country, the Supreme Court last month had asked the Centre to frame a special law to tackle the menace.
(With inputs from PTI and The Indian Express.)
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