Boy killed in MP, attacker dies after mob beating, UP beheading

A five-year-old boy was killed in front of his mother Friday when a man who police say appeared mentally unstable entered the family's home in Ali village in Dhar district, Madhya Pradesh, seized a sharp spade-like tool and attacked the child, local authorities and eyewitnesses said. Villagers overpowered and severely beat the assailant before police arrived; he later died while being taken to hospital, officials said.

Police identified the victim as Vikas, also reported in some accounts as Vikesh, and the accused as Mahesh, a man in his mid-20s. Eyewitnesses described a sudden, brutal attack in which the assailant struck the boy in the neck and shoulder, leaving the child mortally wounded. The boy's mother was injured as she tried to pull her son to safety and was left traumatised, residents said.

Dhar Superintendent of Police Mayank Awasthi said the accused had been missing from his home in Jobat Bagdi in Alirajpur district for three to four days and had displayed signs of mental disturbance, according to family members. Awasthi said police were treating the assailant's mental state as a factor in the investigation. He added that a postmortem would determine the exact causes...