A man accused in four cases of kidnapping and rape was beaten to death in Bihar’s Katihar district when he allegedly sexually assaulted a nine-year-old girl.

The deceased, identified as 30-year-old Muhammad Sagir, was seen in viral videos tied to a date tree and being assaulted by a group.

Sagir allegedly took away the nine-year-old girl, who was sleeping with her mother on the verandah of her home, and raped her.

“I woke up around 2am and saw that my child was missing. I alerted my family and neighbours. Soon, many people started looking for her. Some of them traced her to a deserted place near an LPG godown, where they saw Sagir forcing himself on her,” the girl’s mother told reporters.

The residents allegedly dragged Sagir to the tree in the market area, tied him to it, kicked and slapped him and hit him with sticks and bricks for a couple of hours.

Police extricated Sagir and took him to a government hospital, where he was declared dead on arrival.

“An FIR has been registered and seven persons have been named as accused. One of them has been arrested. Raids are being conducted to arrest the rest,” Katihar superintendent of police Jitendra Kumar told The Telegraph.

Kumar added that the statement of the child had been recorded. He said Sagir had been facing four cases of kidnapping and rape and had been named in chargesheets.

Sources in the police said the lynching appeared to be the outcome of pent-up anger among locals over the previous cases.