Mob lynches youth accused of sexually assaulting 7 girls in Arunachal Pradesh

A 19-year-old Assam labourer accused of sexually assaulting seven minor girls was lynched by a mob outside Roing police station in Arunachal Pradesh’s Lower Dibang Valley district. He died despite police intervention and hospitalisation. 

A 19-year-old youth, accused of sexually assaulting several minor girls, was allegedly lynched by a mob outside the Roing police station in Arunachal Pradesh's Lower Dibang Valley district on Friday afternoon.

The accused, reportedly a migrant labourer from Assam, had been arrested earlier that day for allegedly molesting at least seven minor girl students of a nearby school. He was killed by a large crowd that forcefully entered the police station and took him out despite police efforts to prevent the incident.

Police tried to control the mob

According to Ringu Ngupok, Superintendent of Police (SP) of Lower Dibang Valley district, the police made efforts to control the angry mob of 500 to 600 people, but failed to stop them from dragging the accused out.

"We tried to control the mob, but they pulled out the accused person from the police station," SP Ngupok said during a phone interview with ANI.

The incident reportedly took place between 2:30 pm and 3:00 pm. Despite the police presence, the mob broke the gate of the police station and managed to assault the accused.

Accused died during treatment

After the assault, the injured youth was immediately taken to a hospital, but he succumbed to injuries, the SP confirmed.

“The injured accused person was immediately rushed to the nearby district hospital, but he succumbed to his injuries,” the SP was quoted by ANI.

Accused was arrested earlier that day

The police said that they had been searching for the accused throughout Thursday night. On Friday morning, some local residents caught him and handed him over to the police.

The youth had been working as a labourer at an under-construction building located near a school, where he allegedly assaulted the girls.

Victims between six and nine years old

The police have conducted a medical examination of all seven victims, whose ages reportedly range between six and nine years.

“The age of the victims is between six and nine years. The accused person was working as a labourer in an under-construction building near the school. Our investigation is underway,” SP Ngupok stated.

Investigation underway

Police are now investigating both the sexual assault allegations and the mob lynching incident. So far, no arrests related to the lynching have been reported.

The situation in Roing remains tense, and local authorities are likely to review security arrangements at police stations to prevent such incidents in the future.
(With ANI inputs)