A 35-year-old Adivasi man was lynched by a mob in Jharkhand on suspicion of theft, The New Indian Express reported on Saturday.

Mithun Kherwar was allegedly caught stealing from a house in Horedag village, on the outskirts of Ranchi on May 11. He was tied up with a rope and was beaten by the villagers till he lost consciousness.

“A team was rushed to the spot, which rescued the victim and admitted him to the nearby hospital where he died during treatment,” Superintendent of Police (Rural) Naushad Alam told the newspaper. “So far six people have been arrested and sent to jail.”

The police said that a first information report was filed against the six accused and 35 unnamed persons under relevant sections. A Special Investigation Team has also been constituted to probe the incident.

Thursday’s incident comes a month after a 20-year-old Muslim man was lynched in Ranchi on suspicion of theft. His family, however, had denied the allegations.

In December 2021, Jharkhand had become the fourth state after West Bengal, Manipur and Rajasthan to pass a Bill against mob lynching. The Bill is yet to receive the president’s approval.

Even though the Bill has been passed, several incidents of mob lynching have been reported in the state.

In January last year, a youth was burnt to death in Simdega district over allegations of felling trees in a sacred area. A month later, another youth was lynched in Hazaribagh, and in May, a forest committee member was beaten to death for resisting the felling of trees.