Drunk man claiming to be Shiva incarnation lynches woman

An inebriated man claiming to be an incarnation of Lord Shiva allegedly thrashed an 85-year-old woman to death in Rajasthan's Udaipur district, police said on Sunday.

A purported video of the incident that happened in Tarpal village falling under Saira police station area on Saturday also surfaced on social media, they said.

In the video, accused Pratap Singh (70) can be seen beating up the woman with an umbrella, kicking her and pulling her hair near the Mahadev temple, while claiming to be an incarnation of Lord Shiva.

According to police, four people, including Pratap, Nathu Singh and two juveniles who were present there and filmed the incident, have been detained for interrogation.

The elderly woman, in the video, is seen pleading for mercy.

Meanwhile, another person standing near him kept telling the accused not to do so. Two minors who shot the video also tried to stop the accused but to no avail.

"During questioning, the man told police that in his drunken state, he thought that he was an incarnation of Lord Shiva and beat the woman to death," Udaipur Superintendent of Police Bhuwan Bhushan Yadav said.

The accused also claimed that he could bring the woman back to life, he said.

"Four people, including the prime accused, have been detained," he said.