A young man in Bihar was on Tuesday beaten to death by villagers who suspected him of stealing a statue from a temple, another case of vigilante justice just four days after 10 suspected thieves were lynched in the state.
Rakesh Kumar, 26, was killed by a mob in Sitamarhi district's
Patahi village, about 200 km from state capital Patna, police said.
"More details about the incident are awaited," said a police official.
The disturbing incident comes two days after Chief Minister Nitish Kumar announced a collective fine on a village if its residents take the law into their own hands.
The announcement came after 10 thieves were lynched at Dhelpurwa village in Vaishali district on Thursday. The victims were Kueris, a sub-group of a nomadic tribe called Nat.
Many nomads have reportedly fled from villages to towns while others are planning to migrate, fearing a threat to their lives in the wake of the incident.
There have been several other cases of mob fury against suspected criminals in Bihar in the last month.
Last week Monday, a mob had allegedly gouged out the eyes of at least one man in Nawada district for allegedly snatching a motorcycle. In another incident, two minor boys were beaten and their heads tonsured partially when they were suspected to have stolen detergent powder from a shop in Nawada.
A youth, who had allegedly snatched a gold chain from a woman, was badly beaten up by a mob at Nathnagar in Bhagalpur district on Aug 28 before being tied to the back of a motorcycle by policemen and dragged along the road.