Cops say the old woman was not mentally stable.

AGRA: A Dalit woman , 65, was lynched by a mob of Baghels (a community) in Agra early on Wednesday morning after she lost her way to her home and villagers thought she was an "evil witch" who had come to cut the hair > of women in the village.

After the incident, the accused fled the village and are on the run, police said.

The incident took place at Mutnai village under Dauki police jurisdiction.

"My mother was attacked brutally with lathis (stick) by a group of men who hail from Baghel community. Early morning at around 4 am, she had gone to the field to attend to the nature's call, but later forgot her way to home and mistakenly went to Baghel-dominated area, where she was killed," said Manoj Jaatav.

He said, "She kept pleading for mercy and even identified herself, but the violent men kept on attacking her. They called her witch and believed that she came to chop off the braids of women. She died on her way to hospital."

According to Tej Bahadaur Singh, station officer of Dauki, "The old woman was not mentally stable and her wrinkled face and white hair triggered panic among local residents."

Circle officer of Fatehabad Tejveer Singh said, "We are investigating the matter, but in the written complaint, the victim's relatives have not mentioned the alleged rumour of women's hair being chopped off to be the reason for attack on the old lady."

Later, two more incidents of alleged braid chopping were reported from Agra's Achnera area and Mathura's Mannt area.

According to Machla Devi of Magraul Jat village in Achnera, "I was making tea in kitchen when suddenly something hit me and when I regained consciousness, I found my braid chopped off."

Similarly, 17-year-old Pooja of Irauli Gujjar village of Mannt claimed that her hair was chopped off on Tuesday night while she was sleeping alone in home.

