Patna, May 23 (IANS) In ever-rising instances of mob rule in Bihar, two people, including an alleged rapist of a minor girl, were lynched Saturday, police said.
Subhash Yadav, in his mid 20s, was beaten to death by an irate group in Naugachia in Bhagalpur after he allegedly raped a four-year-old girl Friday evening, an official said.

Yadav, an auto-rickshaw driver, was caught from a house he was hiding in and thrashed, which led to his death.

In another incident, a man, known only by his first name Kundan, was beaten to death in Naubatpur near Patna. Kundan was trying to flee after he allegedly shot and injured a local trader who has been admitted to a hospital in critical condition.

In rural Bihar, “street justice” is becoming increasingly common. Over 50 cases of lynching were reported from the state in the last four and a half months. Last year several cases of lynching were reported.

In one of the worst lynching cases, in September 2007, 10 people from the underprivileged Kueri community were thrashed to death in Vaishali district over an alleged theft. Later, a high-level probe found that the men were not thieves as the villagers had suspected.