Mob kills two 'child-traffickers' on basis of false WhatsApp messages
What's the story
A few parts of Tamil Nadu were gripped with panic after unfounded WhatsApp messages asked residents to be aware of immigrants who came to abduct children.
Shockingly, the false messages claimed the lives of two innocent people. Separate mob-lynching incidents were reported from Thiruvallur and Tiruvannamalai districts in the last 24 hours.
Reportedly, police have rounded up at least 30 people and charged them with murder.
Details
Suspecting them to be child-traffickers, mob killed two people
On Wednesday, residents of Pulicat beat a man to death and hung him to a bridge, taking him for a child-trafficker.
In the second case, Rukmani, 63 was lynched in a Tiruvannamalai village where she visited to pay respects to her family's deity.
Rukmani's act of giving sweets to children was seen as a ploy by villagers, who mounted an attack on her.
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Police working to spread awareness among villagers
"People fear that their children may be kidnapped and to make them believe that such WhatsApp messages are false, we have formed police teams and are traveling to villages and asking people to not believe in false messages," said SP, Vellore.
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What's in the viral message that led to innocent deaths
The latest audio message is being purportedly circulated by a Vellore man. He begins the clip by saying, his kid was abducted by a Hindi speaker.
He claimed his child was rescued by the police and on interrogation the accused told about his gang.
"400 of us have come to the Tamil Nadu to kidnap people," the man goes on.
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We have to protect our children: Man claims in message
"Even if they are not only four hundred people, we should still be careful. We have to protect our children. Whoever is listening to this, please share this with your neighbors, with your family and your relatives if they don't know this," the man reportedly says.