Elderly woman beaten to death by mob in Jharkhand's Gumla over 'child lifter' suspicion

Gumla, March 9 (PTI) An elderly woman was allegedly beaten to death by a mob in Jharkhand's Gumla district, suspecting her to be a "child lifter", police said.

The incident happened on Sunday night in Lagaba village in the Bishunpur police station area, they said.

"The victim was aged between 50 and 55. We are making efforts to establish her identity," Officer-in-Charge Arjun Kumar Yadav told PTI.

"The woman was beaten with sticks and stones by a group of villagers after a rumour spread that she was a child-lifter. As soon as we received the information, we reached the spot and rushed her to the Community Health Centre (CHC), where she died during treatment," he said.

Yadav said the woman was mentally challenged and had been wandering in the area for the past few days.

"So far, no arrests have been made in the case. An FIR has been registered against 10-15 people. Raids are being conducted at several locations to nab them," he said, adding that it was a clear case of lynching. PTI RPS RPS SOM