Indian police arrest dozens after protests over rape, murder of 11-year-old girl

Indian police said on Friday they had arrested dozens of people for violence and vandalism during protests this week over the rape and murder of an 11-year-old girl in an eastern state.



Police said one innocent person had been lynched by angry crowds. Protesters had blocked roads and torched vehicles since the girl's body was found in a pond on Sunday, a day after she went missing, in Baruipur city of West Bengal state about 30 km (20 miles) from Kolkata.



"We have arrested 35 people for violence and vandalism so far ... others involved are being identified through multiple videos that went viral," senior state police officer Arvind Kumar Anand told Reuters.



Separately, police said they had shot dead one of four men who had been arrested for the girl's rape and murder. The suspect, Prabhas Mondal, was shot in the early hours of Wednesday while attempting to escape, having been taken to the crime scene as part of the investigation, police said.