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Arrests after India mob lynches man over WhatsApp child abduction rumour
NEW DELHI, July 15, 2018 (BSS/AFP) – Indian police said Sunday they have
arrested 25 people after a man was killed by a mob in the country’s latest
lynching over suspicion of child kidnapping sparked by rumours on WhatsApp.
The men were arrested over the murder of 27-year-old Mohammad Azam who was
attacked along with two friends by a 2,000-strong mob in southern Karnataka
state’s Bidar district late Friday.
Azam’s friends were critically injured in the assault that came days after
the Facebook-owned messaging service published advertisements in Indian
newspapers offering tips to curb the spread of fake information on its
platform.
More than 20 people have been lynched in India after being accused of child
abduction in the last two months, according to media reports.
Police said Azam and his companions were returning to neighbouring
Hyderabad city after visiting their friend in Bidar when they stopped midway
and offered chocolates to local children.
“One of them had bought chocolates from Qatar and tried to offer it to the
children as a token of affection,” Bidar deputy police chief V. N. Patil told
AFP.
But one among the group of children started crying, alerting the elders who
accused the men of being child kidnappers amid rife social media rumours
about child kidnapping rings in the area, the officer said.
Patil said the three managed to flee from the spot but were attacked by a
much larger mob a few kilometres (miles) ahead after locals alerted nearby
villages via Whatsapp.
Their car flipped after hitting a roadblock placed by the angry mob before
they were dragged out of the vehicle and beaten with sticks and stones.
Three policemen were injured in rescue attempts as the mob rampaged for
nearly an hour.
The attack comes after five people were lynched by a mob in neighbouring
Maharashtra state on July 1.
The mob had spotted the victims talking to a child at a market, triggering
allegations of child abduction.
The spate of lynchings started last May in eastern Jharkhand state after
rumours on WhatsApp about child kidnappers led to the lynching of seven men.
The rumours have since resurfaced, with 21 deaths reported in dozens of
attacks across the country mostly targeting non-locals.
India accused Whatsapp of failing to curb false information on its
platform.
BSS/AFP/MRI/1442 hrs