A man was killed by a mob triggered by child lifting rumours in Karnataka’s Bidar district on Friday night while two of his friends suffered serious injuries.
In a widely-circulated video and some images of the three men, the group can be seen distributing chocolates to local children in the area. It is being alleged that this video triggered the rumours of them being child lifters.
According to a report in Hindustan Times, the men have been identified as Mohammad Azam, a resident of Hyderabad, who was travelling with Talha Ismail and Mohammed Salman. The group was visiting a friend in Handikera village.
As the three entered the village, they stopped their car to buy some chocolates and distributed it among the children. The locals who had gathered at the spot raised objections while the group talked their way out of the altercation.
However, soon after, their car met with an accident and toppled off the road when the locals arrived and starting assaulting the men.
Police later arrived at the spot to disperse the crowd and take the injured men to a local hospital. However, Azam was declared brought dead while the others continue to receive treatment.
Police have made several arrests in the case so far and are trying to identify the others from video footage of the lynching incident.
Friday’s incident comes after a series of similar incidents across the country have claimed around 30 lives so far. False WhatsApp messages warning of child lifters have caused a lot of tension among locals across several states and have prompted state administration in issuing adversaries and warnings against believing such messages. However, these have so far failed to quell the spread of rumours.
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