JANAKPUR/BIRATNAGAR, May 16: In yet another brutal lynching in the eastern tarai districts on suspicion of child kidnapping, locals in Joginiya VDC-9, Saptari district on Saturday burnt two Indian nationals to death. [break]
The irate locals severely beat up the two before placing straw over them and setting it on fire.
The harrowing incident comes just two days after locals at Portaha VDC-4 in the same district killed a Bengali youth, alleging that he was involved in gouging out the eyes of an 11-year-old.
The slain Indians are yet to be identified, but one of them was found to be in his early 30´s and the other in his mid-40´s, according to police.
Police on Saturday confirmed that an Indian woman was killed in Bardibas, Mahottari Friday, also on suspicion of child kidnapping.
Altogether 15 people have been killed so far over kidnap suspicions since 12 April.
Chief District Officer of Saptari Ram Bilas Raya said it is still unclear whether the two Indian men had come to kidnap children.
Police said a large number of squatters from Bengal, Rajasthan and Bihar states in India have arrived in Nepal after local administrations there chased them away prior to the Indian general elections.
Superintendent of Police Yadav Raj Khanal, who heads Dhanusha District Police Office, said a large number of such homeless people were brought in trucks and dumped at the Indo-Nepal border.
The spate of killings of unidentified persons began in Dhanusha, Mahottari, Siraha, Saptari and Sunsari districts amidst rumors of child kidnappings.
The killing started from Bharatpur village in Dhanusha after unidentified Indian nationals entered Nepali territory for lack of food. The villagers on April 12 burnt a woman alive. The killings shot up sharply as rumors spread like wildfire that unknown kidnappers had reached villages in the Tarai.
Deputy Inspector General Sharada Bhakta Ranjit, chief of the Eastern Regional Police Office, said Indian nationals who do not know any Nepali have become targets of the villagers.
A woman was killed in Dhanusha and three men killed in Saptari in the last one month alone. Likewise, locals have beaten to death nine others including two women in Mahottari and Dhanusha.
Local administrations said they are facing difficulties prosecuting the guilty as no complaints were filed against anyone even as the killings shot up lately.
Saptari CDO Raya said they have asked locals not to be swayed by ´rumors´ spread by local media. Police have warned the locals of legal action if they continue such killings. “There have been killings due to baseless rumors,” said Raya. “Guilty persons will be brought to justice.”
Human rights activists in the Tarai districts have also remained tight-lipped over the killings.
Meanwhile, locals at Hanumannagar VDC-7 in Saptari turned in Shyam Sundar Gupta, another Indian, to police on the charge kidnapping two-year-old Aslam Miya. Altogether seven persons were handed to police for kidnappings in Saptari.
Numbers killed
Dhanusha - 7
Mahottari - 5
Saptari - 3
Chronology of killings
April 12: Unidentified Indian woman killed in Bharatpur village, Dhanusha
April 21: Unidentified woman killed in Ramanand Chowk, Janakpur
April 21: Yespi Yadav of Ramdaiya village killed in Kapileshwor village, Dhanusha
April 29: Unidentified man killed in Thandi Jhijha area, Dhanusha
May 1: Woman killed in Duhabi, Dhanusha
May 2: Man killed in Duhabi, Dhanusha
May 15: Indian woman killed in Bardibas, Mahottari
Related story
R. Kelly accused of sex with teen girl in 1990s as indictment i...
