Taken to be thieves, two Dalit brothers lynched by mob in Bihar

india

Updated: Jun 30, 2017 08:02 IST

In yet another case of a mob taking the law into its own hands and dispensing instant justice, two middle-aged men, were lynched at a village in south western Bihar, very early on Thursday, on mere suspicion that they were thieves.

The incident took place around 1 am on Thursday, at Parasia village under Kochas police station of Rohtas district, about 170 km south-west of state capital, Patna.

The two men were brothers and mahadalits - Musahars, who are classified as the most depressed among the dalits and so poor that they were traditionally known to subsist on a diet of mice which they used to hunt for a living.

Police said the dead men, identified as Baban Musahar, 40, and Murahu Musahar, 35 , sons of one Saryu Musahar of Padari village under Shivsagar police station of Rohtas, were accused of entering a house after burrowing through a wall to conduct theft.

Kochas station house officer Satish Kumar said, preliminary investigations suggested that the two men were caught when some villagers raised an alarm on finding strangers trying to enter a house at such an early hour. The two panicked and tried to run away, but were caught by locals and assaulted.very badly.

The two were taken to the local primary health centre at Kochas where Baban died during treatment. Murahu, who was in a serious condition, was referred to sadar hospital, Sasaram, but when here reached there the doctors declared him ‘brought dead’.

Police said the mob dispersed only after the police rushed to the spot.

A murder case had been lodged against unidentified persons and police was trying to establish the identities of the attackers.

The SHO said the villagers suspected them of being thieves as there had been a spate of thefts in the area in the recent past, forcing villagers to mount guard in shifts. “Seeing strangers, they believed them to be thieves and set about them”, he stated.

The incident comes at a time when there is outrage across the country over the killing of a youth Junaid, in a Haryana train, following an argument.

Earlier, last April, Navin Kumar, 45, a farmer of Patti Bandhu Rao village under Lalganj police station of Vaishali, was thrashed mercilessly before his throat was slit by a mob for injuring the goat. The incident took place at Mahadalit tola of Bhelaipur village in Muzaffarpur district of north Bihar.

Earlier this month, an FIR was registered against four people for hanging two youths upside down and thrashing them on the suspicion they had stolen five chairs hired for a wedding. This case of mob excess had come out of Kaimur district of western Bihar.