Residents protest against the murder in Gaya on Friday. Picture by Suman

A middle-aged woman was stabbed to death while resist- ing a robbery bid at her Lakhanpura house in Gaya town in the small hours of Friday.

The incident took place under the jurisdiction of Civil Lines police station of Gaya town.

Pramila Devi was sleeping with her husband, Prahlad Pandey, in the first floor room adjoining the terrace.

Her father-in-law, Jit Narayan, and two sons, Munna and Bunti, were asleep in a ground floor room of the double-storeyed house.

Between 1am and 1.30am, four thieves broke into the couple’s room.

On spotting the gang members in her bedroom, Pramila raised an alarm and resisted the loot bid, while her husband ran downstairs to alert the family.

Sensing trouble, one of the thieves stabbed her. Hearing Pramila’s screams and commotion from the Pandeys’ residence, neighbours rushed out of their houses.

They managed to catch one of the thieves, identified as Raushan Kumar, a resident of the same locality, and thrashed him before handing him over to the police. The three other thieves managed to flee the spot.

Family members rushed Pramila to Anugrah Narayan Magadh Medical College and Hospital but doctors declared her brought dead.

The arrested thief was also admitted to the same hospital. Post-mortem was conducted on the woman’s body.

Local residents blocked the Gaya-Nawada road near Ghughritand bypass for around four hours from 7am to protest the killing.

The mob burnt tyres to vent their ire against the police administration. They demanded Rs 10 lakh as compensation for the kin of the deceased and arrest of the three thieves.

Later, Gaya city deputy superintendent of police Ali Ansari went to the spot to contain the situation.

The police officer tried to pacify the agitators by mentioning about Raushan Kumar’s arrest and ongoing raids to nab the thieves.

Prahlad and Munna are priests who perform rituals of pinddaan pilgrims visiting the Vishnupad temple in Gaya.