News / India

India nabs 18 after mob attacks jail, kills rape suspect

Sunday, 08 March 2015 2:17 PM [ Last Update: Sunday, 08 March 2015 2:41 PM ]

Indian activists burn an effigy representing the rapists of a student during their protest in Hyderabad on March 6, 2015. (©AFP)

Indian police have indicted 18 people after a furious mob stormed a northeastern prison facility and lynched a captive rape suspect in a move censured by rights groups and political leaders.

Police authorities on Sunday arrested the male suspects for rioting in Nagaland state, though it was not immediately clear whether they directly participated in stripping and beating to death of Syed Farid Khan, whose corpse was then strung up to a clock tower following the Thursday incident, AFP reported.

Several thousand people overpowered prison guards at the Dimapur district Central Prison on Thursday searching for Khan, whom Nagaland's government initially identified as a Bangladeshi immigrant.

Khan, who is from Assam, was then stripped and paraded on the streets before the mob armed with sticks beat him to death, local media outlets reported.

Assam’s Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi, meanwhile, described the incident on Saturday as "barbaric, heinous and inhuman" as the UK-based Amnesty International urged justice for rioters that took part in the lynching.

"Violence against women needs to be tackled with swift and effective responses from the state, not with barbarism by self appointed vigilantes," it said in a statement.

"So far we have arrested 18 people for rioting and unlawful assembly," said the local Inspector General of Police Wabang Jamir, who added, "We are now verifying if besides being part of the mob they were also directly involved in the lynching."

The Bengali-speaking Khan was detained on February 24 for allegedly raping a 19-year-old tribal woman multiple times.

Hundreds of riot police officers have been patrolling the streets of Dimapur district since the deadly incident amid continuing tensions.

Jamir further stated that mobile phone and internet restrictions in the area remained in effect but a 24-hour curfew would be partially lifted.

The lynching of the rape suspect came amid growing controversy in India over a government order to outlaw the broadcast of a documentary about the December 2012 fatal gang-rape of a young student in New Delhi.

The second most populous nation in the world has witnessed an outpouring of rage over alarming levels of violence against women since the 2012 attack, which triggered outrage both within India and across the globe.

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