With mob lynching becoming a daily event especially in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Jharkhand in yet  another incident in Jharkhand, a 50-year-old man was killed in Dhanbad district on Friday by a mob who accused him of child lifting, police said.

Three people have been detained in the case and interrogations are on.

Advertisement

Pratham Kumar, the alleged child lifter was roaming around in Kati Pahari village when a mob caught him and thrashed him brutally. The villagers said that the Kumar admitted to being a child lifter. The victim was admitted to a hospital where he died during treatment.

Superintendent of Police, Dhanbad (Rural) Aman Kumar said, “The victim’s body has been sent for post-mortem and the incident is being investigated.”

According to Pratham Kumar’s relatives, he was mentally unstable and was undergoing treatment. He used to roam around villages and pick garbage, they said.

In another incident on Friday, a youth was thrashed by villagers in Bhuli locality of Dhanbad district on charges of child lifting. He is now admitted in a hospital.

Earlier, a middle-aged person was beaten to death on Wednesday in Ramgarh district on suspicion of child lifting. Three people were detained.

On Tuesday, six people were thrashed brutally in Koderma district on suspicion of child lifting.

After mob lynching in the name of cow slaughter, it is rumours of child lifting that are fueling similar incidents in many parts of India.

In Uttar Pradesh as well, last week in Sambhal, a man suspected of being a child lifter, was thrashed to death by a mob. According to reports, two brothers had taken their nephew to a doctor for treatment when a mob, suspecting them to be child-lifters, caught hold of them. Both were dragged to a field, where they were ruthlessly beaten.

In Ghaziabad also a woman was thrashed by mob last week. She was taking her grandson for shopping when she was mistaken for a child kidnapper. A video of the woman being thrashed by the mob was also circulated on social media.

In Amethi also, on suspicion of being child lifters a labourer was lynched to death, while eight others were injured in an attack by a mob, last week.