A 25-year-old man, accused of raping and murdering a minor girl, was lynched by an enraged mob in a village under the Bishnupur sub-division of Bankura district.
According to local reports, the nine-year-old girl was last seen yesterday afternoon heading towards nearby farmland with her neighbour of Balarampur village in the Patrasayar police station area. The rain had just subsided when the two were seen walking together.
Advertisement
The neighbour returned, but there was no sign of the girl by evening. Her family and neighbours grew suspicious about the neighbour. When confronted and beaten by some local youths, he attempted to flee but was apprehended. Eventually, he confessed and led villagers to a shrub-covered area near a field, where the girl’s body was found. A freshly dug patch of land nearby resembled a shallow grave.
Police later rescued the critically injured man and took him to Bishnupur Sub-Divisional Hospital, where he succumbed to his injuries in the early hours of this morning.
Patrasayar Police have launched two separate investigations: one concerning the alleged rape and murder, and the other into the lynching, confirmed Vaibhav Tewari, superintendent of police, Bankura. “Preliminary evidence suggests rape, but we await medical examination reports,” he stated.
Both bodies were taken to the same hospital for post-mortem examination.
Early investigations suggested the accused strangled the girl to death when she screamed during the assault. While he was digging a grave to conceal the body, some villagers spotted him. He then fled to avoid suspicion.