Woman beaten to death over child-lifting rumours in Gumla

Gumla: A 50-year-old mentally unstable woman was allegedly beaten to death over child-lifting rumours at Guriatarn village, around 65 km from the district headquarters, on Sunday night, police said.Police arrested four accused on charges of mob lynching, while a case was registered against 15-20 people on Monday.Sources said the woman was spotted roaming in the village at night, with some residents suspecting her to be a child-lifter. They ran after her and started assaulting her as she tried to protect herself. A man from a nearby village found the injured woman tied to a tree with ropes and informed police. Police rescued the woman and shifted her to the community health centre (CHC) at Bishunpur, where she succumbed to her injuries during treatment.Officer-in-charge (OC) of Bishunpur police station, Arjun Kumar Yadav, said, “We got information around 11:30 pm and reached the spot soon. Guriatarn has only four households and residents from nearby villages had assembled there after hearing child-lifting rumours.”“The police team rescued the critically injured woman and admitted her to Bishunpur CHC, where she died within half an hour,” he said.“The woman was seen near the house of Tetra Oraon at Guriatarn. As villagers went near her, the mentally unstable woman started fleeing. Soon, she was caught and beaten up with sticks by the mob,” the OC said.“We registered a case under Section 103(2) of BNS against 15-20 unknown people on Monday,” he said.The post-mortem examination was conducted on Monday, and the body was kept at the mortuary at Sadar Hospital, with police are trying to establish her identity, an officer saidAround two weeks ago, a man was caught on suspicion of being a child-lifter by villagers at Banari, 6 km away from Bishunpur police station. He was, however, rescued.The district administration has appealed to the public not to pay heed to any rumour and, in case of suspicion, to inform the local police station or district control room.