India: Furious mob breaks into jail, parades rape suspect naked and lynches him

An infuriated mob consisting of thousands of people stormed a high-profile prison in the northeastern Indian state of Nagaland, dragged a rape suspect out and thrashed him to death.

Syed Farid Khan, who is reported to be an illegal immigrant from neighbouring Bangladesh, was stripped naked by the crowd before being dragged violently through the streets of Dimapur district.

The 35-year-old car dealer has been accused of sexually assaulting a 20-year-old Naga girl multiple times in February. He was arrested and sent to judicial custody.

"A mob of around 4,000 people stormed the central jail after breaking the two gates and took the accused out of jail and paraded him naked to the city tower in the heart of Dimapur town, before we could rescue him from the mob," senior police officer at the Dimapur district Meren Jamir told Indian news agency IANS.

A curfew has been imposed in the area following the incident. Jamir said: "The body was retrieved from the mob after police fired in the air to disperse them."

Despite police officers opening fire, the unruly mob went ahead and damaged several properties. At least one person died during the police firing. It is also unclear whether other prisoners had escaped during the raid.

Chief Minister of Nagaland T R Zeliang said: "The mob broke into the jail and things went out of hand. Investigations are on, culprits will be brought to book. I condemn those who take the law into their own hands. This is not a communal issue, it is a serious security lapse."

Nagaland has already been reeling under intense protests over the matter of illegal immigrants for the past several days.