In yet another case of mob violence, a youth was beaten to death by a group of villagers in Bihar's Sitamarhi district on Tuesday morning for allegedly stealing a statue from a local temple.

Police officials confirmed that twenty-five-year old Rakesh Kumar was beaten to death by an angry mob in Patahi village in Sitamarhi.

"Angry villagers beat him to death on the suspicion that he had stolen a statue from their temple," police officials said.

The latest incident comes barely two days after the Bihar government, alarmed at cases of mob violence spiraling out of control, announced that a fine will be imposed on the entire village if its residents chose to take the law into their own hands.

The state government had taken the decision after 10 thieves were mercilessly beaten to death by a mob at Dhelpurwa village in Vaishali district.

Several cases of public fury against criminal offenders have been reported from Bihar in the last one month.

A mob had gouged out the eyes of three young men in Nawada district on Monday for snatching a motorcycle. In another incident, two minor boys were beaten and their heads tonsured partially for stealing detergent powder from a shop in Nawada.

A youth, who had snatched a gold chain from a woman, was badly beaten up by a mob at Nathnagar in Bhagalpur on August 28.