Thousands of protesters stormed a prison in India's Dimapur City yesterday, overpowering guards and kidnapping an alleged rapist inside. Once they got him outside, the mob stripped and beat the man, dragging him through the streets for four miles before he eventually died of his injuries.
The entire event is another example of India's changing opinion of sexual assault and it proves just how seriously they take such charges. But some believe that the anger was also directed at the country's views toward migrant workers coming into the country from Bangladesh.
The 35-year-old accused rapist reportedly assaulted a young female college student on February 24 and was arrested the following day. Public outcry from the event was overwhelming following the arrest as India is also dealing with the backlash of a recent documentary called "India's Daughter" that talks about the increase in sexual assault in India.
In the film, murderer and rapist Mukesh Singh said that the reason his victims were assaulted was their own fault. He blamed the whole thing on the fact that they were "out at night."
"When being raped, she shouldn't fight back. She should just be silent and allow the rape... A girl is far more responsible for rape than a boy," Singh said in the film.
The documentary focuses on the gang-rape and death of a 23-year-old physiotherapy student in New Delhi that brought more global attention to the problem. The victim's father urged everyone to watch the film to see just how horrendous the rapists' actions were, but India has since banned the film and acted to remove it from YouTube. Despite this, the BBC has shown the film and doesn't intend to remove it.
"Everyone should watch the film," he said. "If a man can speak like that in jail, imagine what he would say if he was walking free?"
The victim's mother agreed, but added that she believed Singh's views were widespread in India.
"I don't care what the government does, bans the film, doesn't ban the film, the only thing I know is that nobody is afraid," she said. "It is not only Mukesh who thinks like this."
It's thought that the attention from the documentary has spurred Thursday's mob to get so large in an effort to show just how the people won't stand for that type of assault in India.
It was reported that the crowd of people tore down two gates at the prison before dragging the accused rapist to the town's clock tower. They also set fire to homes and shop in the vicinity of the suspect's used car shop in town.
Indian police attempted to control the situation with batons, but when they fired shots into the crowd, one 25-year-old protester was killed. Several officers were injured themselves from rocks thrown from the crowd.
CBS News reports that the killing of the accused rapist also had links to India's tensions in Nagaland over an influx of migrants from Bangladesh.
"Several local groups accuse the migrants of taking away their land and jobs and have been protesting in recent weeks," CBS reports.
