DIMAPUR, India, March 6 (UPI) -- A jailed rape suspect was attacked and killed by a mob in Dimapur, India, as controversy over a documentary film about rape continued across the country.
A curfew was imposed Friday in the city of 380,000, in northeastern India's Nagaland state, after the attack.
The man, identified as Farid Khan, 35, was arrested in late February in the Feb. 23 rape of a 19-year-old local woman.
On Thursday afternoon, Khan was taken from his jail cell by a mob described by CNN as numbering in the thousands. He was beaten to death, and his body was later hung from a nearby clock tower.
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Police attempted to block the mob's entrance to the prison complex by using tear gas and bamboo clubs, and some shots were later fired. Many in the group wore local school uniforms, suggesting they were young and organized. The attackers were part of a growing group arriving in Dimapur since Thursday morning to stage a rally protesting the rape. In the afternoon, a group broke away from the rally and marched six kilometers (3.7 miles) to the prison.
In the chaos, a police vehicle, several privately owned vehicles and nearby houses were set on fire.
Some arrests were made, Nagaland Director General of Police L.L. Doungel said, adding, "The rape-accused is said to be an illegal Bangladeshi immigrant."
Of the mob, Doungel said, "There were thousands of them." He suggested the suspect was a target for lynching, but died of injuries sustained in the attack.
Tensions in the area between native Nagas and Bangladeshi migrants have increased since the rape, and the attacking group demanded nullification of trade and work permits for Bengali-speaking settlers as they invaded the prison complex.
An unidentified man, 25, believed to be a part of the mob, was injured when police began shooting, and died in a local hospital.
The attack comes as India begins a frank conversation about the prevalence of rape, motivated by a documentary film on the topic. India's Daughter, financed by the BBC and Indian television network NDTV, examines a 2012 case in which a New Delhi woman was raped on a bus. The rape received global attention and highlighted India's seeming indifference toward violence against women. The victim died of her injuries, and four men were convicted of the crime and sentenced to death. The film includes an interview of one convicted man, Mukesh Singh, by filmmaker Leslee Udwin, in which Singh shows no remorse and blames the victim for the crime.
India's Daughter was shown on British television Wednesday and was scheduled to be presented in India on Sunday. But Tuesday, New Delhi police secured a court injunction against broadcasting it in India.
Meanwhile, the BBC on Friday asked Google to remove copies of the documentary from YouTube, claiming a copyright infringement.
In the interview, Singh says, "A girl is far more responsible for rape than a boy. A decent girl won't roam around at 9 o'clock at night... housework and housekeeping is for girls, not roaming in discos and bars at night doing wrong things, wearing wrong clothes."
The elements of the film have begun a firestorm of controversy in India's media and government. New Delhi police officials claim broadcasting the film will anger the public and cause increased tension, but some legislators are critical of blocking it.
Female Parliament member Anu Aga said the "reality is what the man spoke reflects the view of many men in India, and why are we shying away from that? In glorifying India and [saying] we are perfect, we are not confronting the issues that need to be confronted."
Udwin, writing on the NDTV website, said, "India should be embracing this film, not blocking it with a knee-jerk hysteria without even seeing it. This was an opportunity for India to continue to show the world how much has changed since this heinous crime; sadly, the FIR ["first information report," the initial report by police] and the banning of the film will see India isolated in the eyes of the world. It's a counter-productive move. Whoever is behind this, please see the film and then come to a conclusion."
While House Minister Rajnath Singh, no relation to the convicted rapist, condemned the film and questioned how Udwin received permission to conduct death row interviews.
The Times of India commented, "The real scandal here is not who permitted such an interview, but how disturbingly common such a point of view, which utterly devalues women, is across social classes in India. Politicians of all hues, even police chiefs and women's commission members have been heard to suggest that women themselves are somehow responsible for being raped."
Rape is the fourth most common crime in India, the 2013 National Crime Records Bureau reported, although it is regarded as significantly under-reported. The nation of 1.2 billion had only 24,923 rape cases in 2013, the overwhelming majority of those examples of alleged marital rape.
