A mentally challenged youth from Uttaranchal was mistaken for a thief and beaten up by a mob in B.K. Kangrali village in Belagavi district on Friday.
The youth, around 30 years old,was going around houses in the village at night. Some youth noticed him and tried to question him. His speech was incoherent and his answers were incomplete.
They suspected that he was a burglar who was looking for locked houses. He was tied with ropes and beaten up. His shirt was torn and he suffered bruises on his face, hands and legs. Later they called the police and handed him over. Police officers from Kakati village took him to the government hospital and tried to speak to him after he recovered. He revealed that he was from Uttaranchal and had come to Karnataka by mistake.
“He does not seem mentally sound. We are alerting the Uttaranchal police,” a police officer said. A case has been registered in Kakati police station.