The devastated mother of an alleged rapist who was dragged from a prison by an angry Indian mob and stripped naked through the street refuses to accept her son was a rapist. Zubaida Khan, 60, cannot accept her son is now dead after a mob broke into a prison and dragged him out to be beaten on the streets. It comes as police arrested 18 people in Nagaland state, but it was unclear if they were directly involved in the killing of Syed Faird Khan, also known as Sharif, whose body was then strung up to a clock tower on Thursday. Scroll down for video . Khan's mother Zubaida Begum and his brother Syed Sarif Uddin Khan comfort each other after hearing of his death by lynch mob . Khan, 60, cannot accept her son is now dead after a mob broke into a prison and dragged him out to be beaten on the streets . Mrs Khan spoke of her devastation saying: ‘I want my son back, he cannot die, and he cannot leave me. I want him back' Khan's brother, Syed Jamal Khan, said he was innocent and accused police of trying to falsely implicated him of rape . Speaking from the family home in Karimganj, in the state of Assam, Mrs Khan said: ‘I want my son back, he cannot die, and he cannot leave me. I want him back.’ The widow and mother of seven can barely speak through the grief. Sharif’s youngest brother, Syed Naseeruddin Khan, 28, said the family feels guilty for not being able to help him. He said: ‘My mother collapsed after hearing the news of his death, she’s not stopped crying. ‘She kept shouting and screaming and demanding to see him. We’re terrified of leaving the house in case the mob come for us too.’ According to police Khan had been accused of raping a 19-year-old student on February 23 at a hotel in Dimapur, in the state of Nagaland, eastern India. A mass protest erupted against the rape charges on Thursday and an Indian mob broke into Dimapur Central Jail and managed to pull out Sharif before beating him on the streets. The mob stripped him naked and paraded him through the town before he was beaten to death and his body hung from a clock tower in the heart of Dimapur. They also set fire to homes and shops in an area where the suspect ran his business. Naseeruddin said they burnt many of the family’s cars and properties. He explained: ‘Our shop with seven cars in Dimapur was ruined, they were set on fire and looted. ‘We were all terrified for our lives; we left the city as the protests started. We fled to our ancestral family home in Assam. We thought we were in danger too.’ Several thousand people gathered as alleged rapist Syed Farid Khan (pictured, top) was mercilessly beaten to death by a lynch mob. Police have now arrested 18 people who were part of the frenzied mob . The gang overpowered security at the Central Jail in the city of Dimapur and grabbed the man before beating him to death . Police say they are now verifying if the men arrests besides being part of the mob were also involved in the lynching . The woman, who cannot be named for legal reasons, said Khan had given her 5,000 ($80) rupees after the attack in return for her silence . Sharif married his wife Holy Begum, 27, ten years ago and they had two children, but their son died in 2009. They now have a three-year-old daughter Sneha. Naseeruddin said: ‘We just can’t believe our brother was a rapist. ‘The girl told us that if we paid her 2 Lakh Rupees (£2,000) she would withdraw the case. We are sure this was just an attempt to get money out of our family because we have done well for ourselves.’ Naseeruddin, who has another brother serving in the Indian Army's Assam Regiment, said that he and his family left the city for fear of their lives but Sharif’s wife Holy tried to save her husband as the mob beat him. He added: ‘Holy is from Nagaland state so she felt safer and she could stay. She told us that when she heard about the mob she ran into town but the mob wouldn’t let her pass, they stopped her from getting to him. ‘We feel very bad that we could not help him. We could’ve saved him if we had got to him. ‘Sharif was a wonderful person, he loved his wife a lot and we cannot believe he would ever rape anyone. We demand justice for my brother. We demand a CBI enquiry into this case and we’re hoping the Assam Government will support us. Protesters in Tinsukia demonstrate against the mob killing of a man accused of rape in neighbouring Nagaland state . 'If we do not get justice, my mother would die. She is unable to accept that he is no more.’ The family is now waiting for Holy to arrive in their village with Sharif’s body today. Meanwhile, Inspector General of Police Wabang Jamir confirmed: 'So far we have arrested 18 people for rioting and unlawful assembly.' 'We are now verifying if besides being part of the mob they were also directly involved in the lynching.' 'We have already identified many more people (for arrest) from videos and photos (of the incident on social media.' The lynching comes as India is in the midst of a raging controversy over a government order to ban the broadcast of a documentary about the December 2012 fatal gang-rape of a young student in New Delhi. Indian women protest for women's safety and equality, and call for severe punishment of men convicted of rape, on the eve of International Women's Day in Ahmedabad . Activists of the Communists Party of India burn an effigy representing the rapists of Delhi student, Nirbhaya during their protest in Hyderabad . India has seen an outpouring of anger over frightening levels of violence against women since the 2012 attack, which sparked shock both within India and around the world. But the lynching is also linked to ethnic tensions within Nagaland, whose indigenous groups have for years accused growing numbers migrants from Bangladesh of illegally settling on their land and eating into resources. The woman, who cannot be named for legal reasons, said Khan had given her 5,000 ($80) rupees after the attack in return for her silence. 'It was only after the incident, he gave me the money to keep silent, so I took the money and gave it to the police station,' the woman told the NDTV network. Mr Jamir said the women’s initial medical report “confirmed rape and other injuries on her body”.
Police have arrested 18 people who were part of a lynch mob in India . The men broke into prison in Dimapur city and kidnapped an alleged rapist . Syed Farid Khan was stripped and dragged four miles while being beaten . He was also pelted with stones and then strung up on a clock tower . Khan's brother says he is innocent and he was falsely accused by police . His mother Zubaida says she also cannot accept that her son is a rapist . WARNING GRAPHIC CONTENT .