Rape of minor in Nagaland triggers public anger as accused paraded naked, beaten by mob

On Wednesday tension prevailed in a remote village in Mon district of Nagaland as an angry crowd decided to punish a man for allegedly raping a minor.

Kohima, May 31: Bringing back the ghastly memory of 2015 Dimapur mob lynching episode in Nagaland which saw the killing of a Muslim man accused of raping a tribal woman, on Wednesday tension prevailed in a remote village in Mon district of the state as an angry crowd decided to punish a man for allegedly raping a minor.

After the family of a minor discovered that the 12-year-old girl was raped by a non-tribal salesman on three occasions, the mob dragged the accused out of his shop, beat him, tore his clothes apart and paraded him naked on streets.

The police arrived on time and brought the situation under control, reported NDTV. The police took the accused in its custody. The mob also put a board around his neck with the message, "I am a rapist".

"A case of rape has been registered under the Prevention Of Children Against Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act. Investigations are on," stated a police official.

Medical tests have been conducted on the minor and the accused, and the reports are awaited, NDTV reported.

In 2015, a Muslim migrant from Assam, Sharif Uddin Khan (36), who was accused of raping a tribal woman, was taken out of the high-security Dimapur central jail after which a crowd of thousands participated in his lynching and his dead body was hung from the city's clock tower.

In the last few months, the nation has witnessed alarming rise in the number of cases of rapes, especially of minor girls. Angry citizens of the country protested on roads in various parts of the country over the horrific rape cases reported from Jammu and Kashmir's Kathua and Uttar Pradesh's Unnao in April.

Both the cases caught the attention of the nation because of its barbarity and open support for the accused from a section of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). After its "studied silence" over crimes against women, especially minor girls, the Narendra Modi government approved the ordinance to allow courts to award death penalty to those convicted of raping girls under 12 in April.