Assam Congress leader held on rape charges, thrashed by mob

GUWAHATI: A ruling Assam Congress leader allegedly raped a married woman in lower Assam's Chirang district and was thrashed by angry villagers before being arrested. Bikram Singh Brahma, who is Baksa district Congress Committee chairman and Congress coordinator of Bodoland Territorial Council, was caught by locals after he allegedly raped the woman on late Wednesday night at Santipura village, with women beating him up, Chirang SP Kumar Sanjeev Krishna said. Brahma was arrested after an FIR was lodged by the victim's husband, Krishna said.

TV channels telecast footage of Brahma, who had contested the 2011 assembly polls, being slapped, kicked and caned by agitated men and women. An embarrassed Congress suspended him from the party and CM Tarun Gogoi warned that anyone found guilty of the henious crime "would not be spared".