Deaf-mute youth ‘beheaded’ on orders of panchayat in Jharkhand

02.04.2016, A deaf and dumb youth was beheaded by villagers on diktat of a panchayat in Jharkhand’s West Singhbhum village.

The incident was discovered 10 days later after which the police got to know about it through a letter to SP, Chaibasa .

It is learned that Sukhlal aka Gunga (20), a resident of village Loharda, was killed by villagers on 21 March after a panchayat order, executed to settle a dispute among family members of the deceased.

According to police reports, the disabled youth on 20 March beat up his grandfather Durga Lohar and entered into a scuffle with his uncle Randho Lohar.

The grandfather and the uncle complained about the incident to the village head after which a panchayat was called on 21 March.

The panchayat held Sukhlal guilty and tied him and his father Indu Lohar to a tree. After settling matters with Indu and freeing him, villagers along with Randho Lohar took Sukhlal to a nearby forest where they beheaded the boy, threw his head in a bush and buried the body near the Sanjay river near Chakradharpur.

The youth’s father did not report the incident as he was scared for his life. According to the police, he had been warned to stay quiet.

Police swung into action on Thursday, interrogating Sukhlal’s family members and the village head.

The police recovered the deceased’s body from a riverside on Friday and the Chaibasa Mufussil police registered a case against the village head and 16 others for their involvement in killing Sukhlal. The village head was arrested and sent to jail while the other accused have fled the village.

Digvijay Singh, Mufussil police station officer in charge said, “We recovered head and the body of the deceased based on the information provided by the village head. He has been sent to jail and others involved in the crime would be nabbed soon.”