Youth lynched by women in Uttar Pradesh

A youth was lynched by a group of women after he participated in a religious ceremony disguised as a woman in a village in Uttar Pradesh's Allahabad district, police said on Tuesday.

The man in his early 20s, who is yet to be identified, entered the house of Ram Khelawan Patel in Phoolpur locality on Monday dressed as a woman and began participating in the religious ceremony. The function was to celebrate the birth of Patel's six-day-old daughter.

"Nearly 50 women were engaged in a religious dance in Patel's house as part of the celebrations of his daughter's birth. The youth, dressed in a salwar suit, entered the house and became a part of the crowd," Deputy Inspector General Chandra Prakash told reporters.

The youth also wore make-up on his face and started dancing with the women.

"His face was covered with a dupatta (veil) and he danced for over an hour. Only after hearing his voice, the women realised that it was a man and started beating him. By the time we got the information and reached there, he was seriously injured," a police official, who visited the spot, said on condition of anonymity.

The youth was declared dead by doctors in a nearby hospital.

"No one in the village could identify him and it appears that he entered the house to commit theft. The matter is being probed," Prakash said.