In yet another incident of lynching, a mentally disabled man was allegedly killed by villagers suspecting him of being a child-lifter in this district of Madhya Pradesh, police said today.
The incident took place at Singwar, 40 kms from the district headquarters, on July 28. The area is pre-dominantly tribal.
On August 1, police learnt that a body was found floating in a well in the village, said Superintendent of Police K Karthikeyan.
The deceased was identified as Mukesh Gond, 27, the resident of Anuppur district, the SP told PTI.
The probe revealed that four villagers -- Jagdish, Chetram, Sanjay and Gangaram -- were drinking on the night of July 28 when they saw Gond wandering aimlessly.
When they called out to him, he hid in a school. The four dragged him out and asked him who he was and where he was from.
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).
More people gathered and he was beaten with sticks mercilessly, Karthikeyan said.
The accused then allegedly tied his hands and feet and threw him into a well. To drown the body, they also tied a stone to it, he said.
Police have arrested ten persons in the case, including Jagdish and his companions.
Earlier, a mentally-ill woman was lynched on suspicion of being a child-lifter in Singrauli district of the state on July 19.
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.
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