Man abducted from village near Ranchi, stoned to death by gang

THE MAN WAS ACCUSED OF BEING AN EVE-TEASER BUT HIS FAMILY SAID THE ASSAULT WAS A FALLOUT OF FIGHT WITH THE YOUTH OF THE OTHER VILLAGE

RANCHI: A 35-year-old man was tied to a tree and stoned to death in a Jharkhand village on Sunday, the latest in an increasing trend of mob crimes reported from the rural parts of the state.

The body of Rambriksh Mahato, 35, of Chanho village, was found tied to a tree in nearby Hutar village, Chanho police station-in-charge Rupesh Kumar Singh said on Monday. Both villages fall in Ranchi district.

According to the police, Mahato had been accused of being a serial eve-teaser, and the assault was plotted by the Hutar villages last week. On Sunday evening, a group of men abducted him from his native village, tied him to the tree and thrashed him with sticks. They then called the women of the village to hit him with stones. Mahato died of excessive bleeding, Singh said.

Mahato’s family denied eve- teasing was the reason behind the killing and alleged that it was a fall out of a brawl involving Mahato and some Hutar youth earlier this month. The police have lodged the case against unknown people and begun investigation.

It is not for the first time that the villagers in the state have lynched a person. According to the Jharkhand police, over 1,200 people, mostly women branded as ‘witches’, have been killed by the villagers this way since 2000.

The latest incident was reported on Saturday evening from Khunti district where a couple was killed in front of their children after the wife was branded a ‘witch’ by a gang of around 20 people.