NEW DELHI, India (AFP) — Indian police said Thursday that five people have been arrested for lynching a man after accusing him of kidnapping children, the latest in a renewed string of attacks fueled by malicious rumor-mongering.
Some 150 people have been attacked recently across the country based on false kidnapping reports, some of them shared on WhatsApp.
Since Aug. 1, at least nine people have died and 135 others injured in mob attacks, according to figures collated by local media.
Police said in the latest incident a mob set upon the 45-year-old man in eastern Jharkhand state late Tuesday, thrashing him with sticks and shoes.
"The rumor was going around in the village about child lifters roaming in the area. We have arrested five persons in the case," senior local police officer Prabhat Kumar told Agence France-Presse by telephone.
The attack came on the heels of six persons being thrashed in the same state on Monday.
A pregnant deaf and mute woman was also attacked in New Delhi in late August, with the mob wrongly believing she was involved in kidnapping.
Lynchings are nothing new in India, but the spread of smartphones to even the most remote corners has enabled rumors to be shared at lightning speed and in huge volumes.
The spate of attacks related to hoaxes about child abduction began last year, prompting WhatsApp to roll out new safeguards, including limiting the number of users a message can be forwarded to.
The Facebook-owned platform, which has some 200 million users in India, also ran newspaper ads to raise awareness about fake news.
In the latest Jharkhand incident, however police, said the rumor had not originated on WhatsApp.
© Agence France-Presse
Subscribe to Closing Arguments
Sign up for new weekly newsletter Closing Arguments to get the latest about ongoing trials, major litigation and hot cases and rulings in courthouses around the U.S. and the world.
Additional Reads
-
German far-right firebrand in court for using Nazi slogan April 18, 2024 -
