A man was stoned to death in full public view for allegedly raping a minor girl at Donkeswar village in Nizamabad district of Telangana late on Saturday. The incident came to light on Sunday after cops launched a search operation to nab the guilty.
Police identified the man as Sayanna, 45, the victim of crude, medieval justice. He was thrashed, tied to a tree in the village centre. Later, a group of villagers hurled stones at him till he collapsed in a pool of blood. Sayanna succumbed while he was being shifted to hospital by police.
The incident triggered tension in the district. This was a first of its kind incident in the state. The police posted a picket in the village and launched a hunt for the accused, who went underground.
It is suspected that a kangaroo court in the village sentenced him to ‘death by stoning’. It is common for Maoists to hold a people’s court, but this is the first time that such horror unfolded in Nizamabad.
G Haridas, local sarpanch, said Sayanna, who works in agricultural fields and does menial jobs, raped a girl, who was staying alone in the neighbourhood. The girl’s parents were away when the incident took place. Sayanna was drunk.
The girl later came out of the house crying. She was bleeding heavily. Locals, who noticed the girl, turned angry and attacked Sayanna. They tied him to a tree. Villagers used sticks and stones in the attack. Sayanna lost consciousness.