The accused visited the house where the two women lived to “cure” the blindness of a third woman living there. (Representational) The accused visited the house where the two women lived to “cure” the blindness of a third woman living there. (Representational)

A mob, largely comprising women, lynched a quack at a remote village in Assam’s West Karbi Anglong district on Thursday after a 22-year-old woman and her 16-year-old relative claimed he raped them on the pretext of conducting a puja on them, police said Friday. West Karbi Anglong SP said, the accused, who hailed from the bordering district of Hojai, visited the house where the two women lived to “cure” the blindness of a third woman living there.

On July 3, the accused supposedly visited the house again and said he would complete the puja rituals. “After the puja, he allegedly asked that a separate ritual has to be carried out on the 22-year-old woman and she has to be alone in the room with him,” the SP said. “According to the family’s allegation, he raped the woman inside the room and then threatened that her family would be killed if she disclosed the incident to anyone,” the SP said.

The next day, the woman revealed the incident to her aunt, who lived nearby. But in the meantime, the family said that the accused came again and said he would conduct a puja on the 16-year-old girl. The family claimed that when he was in the room with the girl, the 22-year-old woman called from her aunt’s place to ask whether he had come. “When she heard that he was in the room with the girl, she said that she and her aunt were rushing back,” the SP said.

The officer said that the police rescued the accused as soon as they received information of the mob assault on him. “He was taken to a hospital but succumbed to his injuries. Two cases, one for the murder of the accused and the second, regarding the alleged rapes have been registered,” the SP said.

Three arrested for Tripura lynching

Tripura police on Friday arrested three persons in connection with the lynching of 36-year-old man over suspicion of cattle theft in the state’s Dhalai district. A senior police officer said an investigation revealed that Budhi Kumar Tripura had gone to the village of at Noarampara with an intention of stealing a cow when villagers caught him. Alomoy Chakma, Niren Chakma and Amar Singh Chakma were arrested.

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