Man suspected to be child-lifter assaulted

Kolkata: A mentally-challenged youth was allegedly thrashed by some local residents at Dalimtala Lane in Burtolla on Sunday night.

Later, police rescued the youth and provided medical treatment to him.

According to a source, local residents saw a youth roaming aimlessly in their locality and after a while he was seen talking to a child. The man was detained and questioned by the people as they thought he could be a child-lifter.

The man reportedly told them that he had come there to attend a marriage ceremony. Local residents immediately took him to a ceremonial house where a marriage reception was taking place.

But no one there could identify the youth.

Suspecting him to be a criminal, they started thrashing him despite his repeated appeals for mercy.

Meanwhile, some of the local residents informed police about the incident.

Police rushed to Dalimtala Lane and rescued the youth. He was immediately taken to the R G Kar Medical

College and Hospital for his treatment.

Later, the police came to know that the youth had said the truth and he

had come to Burtolla to attend a marriage ceremony at Sahitya Parishad Street, which is a bit far from the incident spot.

After a round of questioning, the police came to know about his family members and got in touch with them. Later, the

youth was handed over to his family.

Though the youth suffered minor injuries, police have registered a case against the local residents under Sections 341 of IPC (punishment for wrongful restraint), 323 IPC (punishment for voluntarily causing hurt) and 34 IPC (acts done by several persons in furtherance of common intention). However, no one could be arrested till Monday night. Recently, many cases of attack have been reportedly in the city over rumours about child-lifters.