Quack, accused of raping two women, lynched in Assam’s Karbi Anglong 

New Delhi: A witchdoctor, accused of raping two village women, was beaten to death by a mob in Sitoi Adong village in Assam’s West Karbi Anglong district, on Thursday. According to the villagers, the accused, who allegedly raped two girls of the village, was a frequent visitor of the village. The mob that lynched the quack comprised mostly of women.

A 22-year-old woman has claimed that the victim, identified as Hussain Ali, 45, raped her and her 16-year-old relative on the pretext of conducting a puja in the house, where two women lived, “to cure the blindness” of a third woman also living there.

West Karbi Anglong superintendent of police, Mrinal Talukdar, while confirming the news to reporters, 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 district police chief further said, “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.”

Talking to NDTV, Talukdar said, “The quack was a known face in the area. Locals have alleged that he used to heal people behind closed doors. Locals said there were previous allegations against this man of sexual advances. According to the statement, the two girls told their parents who raised alarm. We have conducted the medical test of the two girls and are awaiting the report. Since one girl is a minor so case has been field under POSCO Act as well. We have also filed another FIR against unknown persons who lynched this man. We are investigating and hope to nab the culprits soon.”

The officer has confirmed that police rescued the accused from the mob assault and taken to a hospital, however, he succumbed to his injuries.

This is not the first time the Karbi Anglong area has been in the news for incidents of lynching. In June 2018, two youths were beaten to death by a mob of around 250 people on the suspicion of being child lifters. The incident took place in the backdrop of widespread public rumours over rising child trafficking and the spate of killings during that time, which became notorious as “Indian WhatsApp lynchings”. The lynching of the two youths – Nilotpal Das and Abhijit Nath – were recorded on mobile phones and the videos were widely circulated on social media, leading to a nationwide outrage.

Three arrested in Tripura for lynching

In yet another incidence of lynching in the northeast, three people were arrested, on Friday, in connection with the lynching of 36-year-old Budhi Kumar Tripura who was allegedly trying to steal a cow in Tripura’s Dhalai district. According to the senior police officer, Alomoy Chakma, Niren Chakma and Amar Singh Chakma were arrested for lynching Budhi Kumar Tripura when he gone to the village at Noarampura to steal a cow.

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