Mentally challenged man beaten to death, six women thrashed over child theft suspicions

A mentally challenged man was beaten to death, while six women from Uttar Pradesh were assaulted by mobs over childlifting suspicions in two separate incidents in Jharkhand’s Chatra and Bokaro districts, police said on Tuesday. The 45-year-old man, who was allegedly severely beaten up by some people in Chatra district on suspicion of being a childlifter, succumbed to his injuries at the Rajendra Institute of Medical Sciences (RIMS) in Ranchi on Monday, a police officer said. The incident took place on Sunday night in Piparwar police station area, where residents of Chiraiyatand and Kichto villages brutally thrashed the victim. The man has been identified as Rambali Rajwar, a resident of Barwatoli in Ramgarh police station area of Ramgarh district, they said. Piparwar police station officer-in-charge Abhay Kumar said, "The victim died during treatment at RIMS in Ranchi on Monday. It is a clear case of mob lynching and police have initiated a thorough probe into the matter. Police have intensified efforts to identify those involved in the assault."

An FIR in this regard will be lodged, and the situation will become clearer once the victim's autopsy report is received. So far, no arrest has been made in this case, the officer said. The victim had gone to the area on Sunday night, after which a group of people thrashed him brutally. As soon as the incident was reported, a team from Piparwar police station rescued him and took him to Bachra Regional Hospital, from where he was shifted to RIMS for better treatment, he added. Bhuvneshwar Rajwar, the brother of the victim, said his family hails from Barwatoli village in Ramgarh district but currently lives in McCluskieganj in Ranchi district.

He said his deceased brother was mentally ill, and the family had been keeping him at home. A day before the incident, he left the house without informing anyone and went to Chiriyatand, where people mistook him for a childlifter and severely beat him up. In another incident, six women from Uttar Pradesh were allegedly assaulted by a group of people in Jharkhand's Bokaro district on Monday. The incident took place near a bridge on the Damodar River in Gandhi Nagar police station area, when locals spotted a group of women and suspected them of being childlifters, leading to an assault on them, a police officer said. "The women had come from Jaunpur for medical treatment. Some locals mistakenly assumed them to be childlifters, resulting in assault and mistreatment," Gandhi Nagar police station in-charge Dhananjay Kumar Singh told PTI.

The victims have been identified as Bindu Devi, Maya Devi, Mala Devi, Sanjana Devi, Nirjana Devi, and Kriti Kumari. After all the six were rescued, they were brought to Mahila police station, he said. Amid floating of rumours pertaining to child theft, the Bokaro district administration urged people to not pay heed to such kind of misinformation. As many as 300 social media accounts have been identified for allegedly spreading misleading information and action is being taken, a senior official said. "Incidents regarding child theft rumours have surfaced in the district over the past few days. Investigations into the matter have revealed that more than 300 social media accounts are being systematically used to disseminate misleading information in a planned manner," Bokaro Deputy Commissioner (DC) Ajay Nath Jha said.

"I have directed the police administration to take strong legal action against such individuals after verifying these accounts and, if necessary, to arrest them," the DC said. The DC has appealed to the general public not to believe or forward any news, video, or social media message without verification.

Meanwhile, Jharkhand BJP spokesperson Pratul Shahdev expressed concern over the rising incidents of child abduction, missing children, and human trafficking. He said data from 2020 to 2025 shows the child safety system in the state had completely collapsed. "On average, 500 to 700 children go missing in Jharkhand every year, and many of them have still not been traced. According to 2022 data, 122 minors went missing from Tatanagar (Jamshedpur area), 52 from Gumla, 36 from Lohardaga, 39 from Chaibasa, 29 from Ranchi, and 46 from Palamu," Pratul claimed.

According to government figures in 2024, 236 children became victims of human trafficking. Thousands of children are still untraced, and police have failed to locate them, most of them belong from Schedule Tribes (STs), he alleged. "Every family in the state is terrified due to child theft and human trafficking," the BJP spokesperson said, alleging that the Hemant government has completely failed. He said during the Hemant government's tenure, organised gangs of childlifters and human traffickers have been operating fearlessly, with poor and tribal children being the primary targets. "I seek an answer from the state government as to why no special campaign is being launched to search for missing children and why strict action is not being taken against trafficking gangs," Shahdev said. He added that if the government does not take immediate effective steps, the BJP will launch a statewide movement on this issue.