A mob in Jharkhand allegedly lynched a woman on Saturday on suspicion of her involvement in chopping off a local girl’s braid, the second such death this month because of a mass hysteria that has gripped north India.
Police said villagers in Sahibganj district’s Radhanagar attacked a group of four beggars – including the woman and a nine-year-old boy – roughly a week after a local girl’s braid was cut. They pelted stones at the woman, said to be in her late 40s, and others on suspicion that they were involved in witchcraft. The boy is critically injured.
“We have beefed up security in the area. For now, superstition seems to be the cause of the attack, we are still investigating,” said Sahibganj superintendent of police P Murugan.
He said an eyewitness informed police, who spent an hour trying to control the mob. By the time the victims were rushed to the hospital, the woman was dead.