Odisha: Mentally challenged man beaten to death over child theft suspicion

A mentally challenged man was allegedly beaten to death by a mob over suspicion of child lifting in Odisha's Mayurbhanj district on Monday, police said. The incident occurred in Lodhasahi village in the Morada Police Station area, a senior officer said. The identity of the deceased has not been ascertained until late evening, the police said. According to the police, some people noticed four men were roaming in the village and rounded them up on suspicion of child theft. Three of the four unidentified persons managed to flee the spot, while the mob lynched the mentally challenged man, the officer said. After getting information, a police team reached the spot and took the man to a local hospital, where doctors declared him dead. ''The deceased was a mentally challenged person. We have registered a suo motu murder case and launched an investigation,'' Morada Police Station inspector-in-charge Sumit Kumar Soren said. The body was sent to the PMR Medical College and Hospital for post-mortem examination, he said.