'Mentally unstable' woman beaten to death on suspicion of child lifting in MP, 12 arrested

Singrauli: In yet another incident of mob violence, a woman in Madhya Pradesh was allegedly lynched on suspicion that she was a child-lifter, police said on Monday. 12 people have been arrested on Sunday in connection with the incident that took place in Singrauli's Badgad village.

The woman, who appeared to be 'mentally unstable', was killed by the mob in Bhosh village under the Morwa police station on July 19, Morwa Sub-Divisional Officer of Police (SDOP) K S Dwivedi told PTI.

Believed to be aged between 25 to 30 years, the woman is yet to be unidentified, he said. They have been booked them for rioting and murder, among other charges under the IPC.

The lynching took place amid rumours on WhatsApp that child-lifters were on the prowl in rural areas of the district, the officer said. He added that the rumours were circulating for the last one month.

All the accused were produced in a local court on Monday, which sent them to jail.

The SDOP said some people spotted the woman roaming in the village at around 9.30 pm on July 19. They stopped her, suspecting her to be a child-lifter and hit her with lathis and axes, Dwivedi said.

After killing the woman, the mob dumped her body in a drain in a forested area of Bhosh, some 90km from the district headquarters, he added. Some villagers spotted the body on July 20 and informed the police.

The Singrauli lynching is the latest in a spate of incidents of lynching and mob violence reported from across the country in the recent past. 

On last Saturday, a man was beaten up by a mob to death in Rajasthan on the suspicion of cow smuggling. 28-year-old Rakbar Khan was lynched in Lalawandi village in Alwar district. 

Taking a strong view of lynching incidents, the Supreme Court had last week asked Parliament to consider bringing in a law to prevent these. In the wake of the top court's order, the government is exploring the possibility of making amendments in the Indian Penal Code to formulate a new law.

Apart from these, the central government is also likely to further strengthen the framework concerning social media in order to ensure that rumours that trigger such incidents are checked.

(With inputs from agencies)