Mentally disabled man lynched in Madhya Pradesh, 10 held

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.