Mob lynches couple in Nadia after body of minor found in pond

Kolkata: The body of eight-year-old Swarnabha Biswas was recovered from a pond in Nadia’s Tehatta on Saturday morning, sparking mob fury that led to the lynching of a neighbour and his wife over allegations of kidnapping, murder, and child trafficking. Swarnabha, a Class III student from Nishchintapur, had gone out to play on Friday afternoon and did not return. His family lodged a missing diary at Tehatta police station and circulated his details on social media.

Villagers discovered his body, wrapped in a tarpaulin, floating behind his house near a bamboo grove. Outrage erupted after the family accused their neighbour, Utpal Mondal, a toto driver, of killing the child and dumping the body. Residents stormed Mondal’s house, dragged him and his wife Soma out, and assaulted them. Police rushed the couple to Tehatta sub divisional hospital, where they were declared dead. Villagers also vandalised the Mondals’ house, torched a nearby jute warehouse, and set fire to Mondal’s maternal uncle’s home. Locals alleged that Mondal, reportedly mentally unstable, had links to a child trafficking racket. Authorities suspect Swarnabha may have been abducted for trafficking.