Indian police investigate mob murder of alleged rapist

Police on Friday began investigations into the killing of an alleged rapist by an angry mob in India's northeastern state Nagaland. An angry crowd of several thousand people had dragged a man out of a prison in Dimapur city, beat him to death and strung him up from a clock tower.

Nagaland Chief Minister T.R. Zeilang said an inquiry had been ordered into the killing of the man, an immigrant from Bangladesh. The situation was "very tense" and security forces had imposed a curfew, Zeilang told the AFP news agency.

"The curfew will continue until the situation improves. We will do whatever possible to stop any escalation," he added.

The alleged rapist was arrested on February 24 after being accused of assaulting a 19-year-old tribal woman several times. On Friday, thousands of angry people stormed into the city prison, dragged the man out, beating and pelting him with stones until he died. They then hung him from the clock tower.

Meren Jamir, a local police official told AFP that another 25-year-old man died of a gunshot wound after police fired some rounds to tame the crowd. Several businesses in Dimapur, owned by immigrants from Dhaka, had also been attacked following the lynching, officials said.

Indian media reported that local administrations of nearby states had tightened security measures amid fears of a communal backlash between immigrants and indigenous tribes.

Tribal communities living in India's northeastern states, bordering China, Myanmar and Bangladesh, have accused the growing numbers of Bangladeshi immigrants of illegally settling on their lands and eating into their resources.

The latest incident of a mob lynching a rape-accused comes shortly after New Delhi banned the broadcast of "India's Daughter," a documentary by filmmaker Leslee Udwin on the gang rape of a 23-year-old in Delhi in December 2012.

mg/sms (AFP, AP)