A man accused of raping and killing an eight-year-old girl in a village in India has reportedly been beaten to death.

Video of a group of Indian women beating a child rapist with sticks has gone viral.

Showing absolutely no regard for the country’s criminal justice system – an example of justice delayed, justice denied – a group of mothers tied the rapist’s hands behind his back, dragged him across the ground with a long rope, and used long sticks to hit him and seek instant justice for raping and killing an eight-year-old girl near the city of Dumka in the eastern state of Jharkhand.
The man, identified as 30-year-old Mithun Hansda, didn’t fight the whipping even as dozens of women and children looked on as the group of women took turns to thrash him. Hansda died on the spot.

As per reports, the victim was playing at the bank of a river in Jalwe village where she had gone to attend a wedding. It is speculated that an intoxicated Hansada abducted the girl, raped her and killed her before leaving her body among the trees by the bank of the river.
According to Prabhat Khabar, Hansda went back to the village and joined the wedding party. When they couldn’t find her, the girl’s family began to search for her and eventually found her body. Enraged locals caught hold of Hansda, tied him, and beat him mercilessly till he died. Police later arrived and took both bodies into custody, before releasing them to their respective families, following a postmortem.
Sexual assault continues to be a national issue in India. At least 34,000 cases of rape were reported across the country in 2015. Victims ranged from female children younger than six years to women over 60 years. Those aged between 18 and 30 reported the largest number of rape attacks – nearly 17,000. The number of cases registered for child abuse raised from 8,904 in 2014 to 14,913 in 2015.