In three separate incidents, four people were lynched in the Indian states of Bihar and Jharkhand on Thursday. In Jharkhand, a man was lynched in Dumka district for allegedly raping and murdering an 8-year-old girl. The incident comes on the same day when a meat trader succumbed to injuries after he was assaulted by at least 10 men who intercepted his van carrying "cattle meat" in Ramgarh district near Ranchi, Jharkhand Police said. Police identified the victim as Alimuddin Ansari, in his mid-30s, from the Giddi area of Ramgarh.

In Bihar's Rohtas district, two alleged thieves were beaten to death.

According to a report in The New Indian Express, Mithun Hansda (30) was tied to a tree with ropes and thrashed mercilessly by an angry mob early on Thursday. The incident happened at Thadihat village under Ramgarh police station in Dumka. "Hours after the body of an eight-year-old girl, Sonamuni Marandi, was discovered, the villagers suspected Hansda to have raped and killed him. The girl had gone missing from a wedding ceremony a day ago," said Roshan Gudiya, the DSP of Ramgarh, told the New Indian Express. Over twenty people have been booked for murder.

In Bihar, two siblings, Baban Musahar (30) and Murahu Musahar (32), who belonged to the Mahadalit community, were beaten up by about 20 people at Basdiha village under Kochas police station in Rohtas district late on Wednesday night, according to The New Indian Express.  While Baban died on the spot, Murahu died at a nearby hospital. Police said the two victims were among a gang of six thieves trying to enter a house past midnight and were caught by the villagers while the rest four managed to flee.

A spate of lynching incidents was reported in Jharkhand last month. Nine people were beaten to death in three separate incidents in a span of eight days by rampaging mobs in southern Jharkhand.