This Article is From May 01, 2014

Woman beaten to death by villagers in UP on suspicion of baby theft

Fatehpur: A woman was allegedly lynched in Uttar Pradesh today by villagers who accused her of stealing babies. She died moments after being taken to hospital, badly wounded.

Reports suggest the woman, who was 40, was surrounded by villagers who kept calling her "chor (thief)", and beaten with sticks and rods.

The incident allegedly took place in Fatehpur, one of the districts in UP where voting took place today in the seventh round of the national election.

On hearing that a woman was being thrashed, police on polling duty reportedly went and stopped the villagers. Some reports had said that the police didn't cover up the woman, but senior police officers have denied it.

The police have registered a case against 16 people, six of whom have reportedly been named.

The state's ruling Akhilesh Yadav government has been accused by rival parties of failing to check lawlessness since it came to power in 2012.
.