Mob kill man accused of raping girl

NEW DELHI, Apr 01 (AFP): Two people were arrested after an angry mob beat to death a man accused of raping an eight-year-old girl on the rural outskirts of New Delhi, police said Sunday.

The man identified as Jitendra was set upon by a crowd after being accused of assaulting the girl in Ghaziabad district, just 20 kilometres (12 miles) from India's capital.

"He was dragged out from his house and beaten to death," said Ghaziabad's rural police superintendent Arvind Kumar Maurya of 25-year-old Jitendra, who goes by one name.

"We have arrested two people over the lynching. One of the two is a family member (of the girl) and the other is a neighbour."

Police were also investigating the alleged sexual assault as part of their inquiries, he added.

Vigilante justice is not uncommon in India, and those accused of rape have been attacked or paraded through the streets naked as punishment.