A man was allegedly burnt alive in Assam on Saturday after a kangaroo court held him guilty of murdering a woman, ANI reported.
The incident occurred in Bor Lalung gaon area of the Nagaon district. The deceased was identified as Ranjit Bordoloi.
According to residents, a trial was organised by the villagers after a woman named Sabita Pator was found dead three days ago under mysterious circumstances, The Hindu reported.
During the trial, a villager claimed that Pator was murdered by five persons and named Bordoloi as the prime accused.
Bordoloi reportedly confessed to the alleged crime, which further infuriated the villagers. He was allegedly tied to a tree and burnt alive. His body was later buried.
Sub-Divisional Police Officer Mrinmoy Das said the police were informed about the incident at 6 pm.
“We got information that a person had been burnt to death and buried following a local customary court’s decision,” Das said, according to the Hindustan Times. “A team was immediately rushed and we found the victim Ranjit Bordoloi’s body from a freshly dug grave.”
The police said that a case of murder has been registered and five people from the village, including three women, have been detained for questioning, according to the newspaper.
Bordoloi’s body has been sent for postmortem examination and the report is awaited, the police added.
“Following Saturday’s incident, most villagers have fled from the village,” Das said. “We are conducting search operations and more arrests are expected. This entire incident happened because people from the area still practice customary laws where local courts decide on most matters and residents usually don’t report incidents of crime to the police.”
Last month, a 28-year-old man was beaten to death after a public trial in Assam’s Tinsukia district on the suspicion that he was a cow thief.
In October 2020, two people, including a 50-year-old widow, were killed after a kangaroo court found the widow to be a “witch” and responsible for a woman’s death. The other victim was reportedly protesting against the kangaroo court’s decision and was also beaten to death.
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