Hyderabad, April 8 (IANS): A mob stoned a man to death in Telangana after he raped a seven-year-old girl, police said on Sunday.

The incident took place late on Saturday in Donkeshwar village of Nizamabad district.

According to police, a group of villagers tied 45-year-old Sayanna to a tree and hit him with stones and sticks. The man died on the way to hospital.

Sayanna, a labourer, was drunk when he called the daughter of his neighbour to his house, offering her chocolates. He later raped her.

Upon seeing the girl crying and bleeding, villages alerted her parents, who were working in an agriculture field. The parents took their daughter to a hospital in a neighbouring village.

Meanwhile, angry over the incident, the villagers caught hold of Sayanna and tied him to a tree. They threw stones at him and also hit him with sticks.

A police officer, quoting eye witnesses, said when he fell unconscious some people took him to hospital but he died on the way.

Police rushed to the village and launched an investigation. Those who assaulted the man have gone underground.