Mob lynches engineering student after girl's mysterious death

Hyderabad, Jul 19: A young life was nipped in the bud by an angry mob in Mohammadiya Palem of Nizampatnam Mandal in Guntur district of Andhra Pradesh as the villagers believed he was responsible for the death of a home alone girl.

According to Circle Inspector V Mallikharjuna Rao, the incident took place on Sunday when the family members of 19-year-old Jasmin were away and she was alone at home.

The locals found two young men, the victim Vemula Sri Sai (18), a B.Tech first year student studying in Bapatla, and his friend Jonna Pavan Kumar (18), both from Adavula Deevi village, near Jasmin's house.

After a while the students were found half naked trying to bring the listless body of Jasmin from her home saying that she needed medical help.

A neighbour caught them and locked them inside the house. "At this juncture the villagers thought that both the young men tried to molest the girl and killed her as she might have refused their advances,” Mallikharjuna Rao said. The mob later tied both the young men to a tree and assaulted them with bricks and cricket bats.

"The beating continued even after the police arrived. The police freed us but for three hours we were not given even a glass of water. All the while Sai was pleading for some water. The police continued questioning us while we were half naked lying on the floor,” Pavan Kumar, who is undergoing treatment in Repalle government hospital told reporters.

He said that they were friends with Jasmin since school days and they had rushed to the village after Jasmin called them saying that she was going to commit suicide.

Sheik Mehrunneesa, mother of Jasmin, alleged that the boys tried to rape her daughter and killed her. "My daughter does not have a mobile phone and there were no signs of a bid for hanging in the house,” she said. Sri Sai's mother Leela, a teacher and local TDP leader, alleged that the police delayed treatment for her son even though he was bleeding profusely. "For three hours my son was left unattended. The police could have completed their questioning after providing him first aid,” a distraught Leela said.

On Monday, the police handed over the bodies to the respective family members after post- mortem. Extra forces were rushed to the village due to communal tension.