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Mob in India Raids Prison, Beats Rape Suspect to Death

Supporters of Republican Party of India (RPI) shout slogans during a protest against the rape of a photo journalist by five men inside an abandoned textile, in Mumbai August 23, 2013. | (Photo: Reuters/DANISH SIDDIQUI)

Thousands of protesters reportedly stormed a prison in India's remote Nagaland state on Thursday evening, forcibly removing a rape suspect and severely beating him before nearly lynching him in town.

This most recent incident reflects growing tensions regarding rape in the South Asian country.

In attack happened Thursday evening, when thousands of protesters rushed a high-security prison in Nagaland and removed a 35-year-old Muslim businessman from Bangladesh, who was accused of raping an Indian woman.

The rape suspect was reportedly dragged naked through the streets and beaten to death before police could get him to safety, although  police say they did prevent the suspect from being lynched by the mob. Local police officials said they used bamboo canes and teargas in an attempt to rescue the man, to no avail.

"There were thousands of them. Many of them were students in uniform," L.L. Doungal, a local police official, told CNN.

"Security personnel at the jail were overpowered by the mob," added the state's chief minister, T.R.Zeliang.

Police officials in Nagaland were force to impose a curfew following Thursday evening's attack, as the incident not only sparked tension regarding India's rape issues, but also sparked tension between Indians and Bangladeshi migrants who live and work in Nagaland.

The protesters who stormed the jail were reportedly opposing the allowance of permits for Bangladeshi migrants.

This most recent incident is the latest in several that reflect issues regarding rape in India. International outcry began following a 2012 incident, where a young woman was raped on a public bus by five men, later dying of her injuries.

Tensions regarding gender inequality flared again this week when a documentary on the brutal 2012 rape was banned by India's government, who argued it would create civil disobedience if shown to the public.