Uttar Pradesh has seen at least 20 cases of mob violence in 72 hours over the rumours of child-lifting. The latest victim of these rumours is a man who, along with his brother, was taking his nephew to a doctor in Sambhal area on Tuesday. A mob suspected them of being child-lifters and dragged them to a field where they were ruthlessly beaten.
The police rushed the spot after getting the information. The two brothers were taken to a hospital but one of them was declared dead on arrival. The police said they have arrested five persons for assaulting the duo.
The rumours of child-lifting in Uttar Pradesh are leading to violent incidents akin to mob lynchings done in the name of cow protection.
In another gruesome incident, a middle-aged woman was thrashed by a mob on suspicion of child-lifting in Loni area of Ghaziabad in Uttar Pradesh.
Police said that the woman had gone shopping with her grandson when a mob attacked her on the suspicion of being a child-lifter.
Four similar incidents have came to light in Shamli, Bulandshahr and Hapur areas of Uttar Pradesh.
A mob thrashed five women, who were selling ropes in Shamli district, on suspicion of being child-lifters. They were rescued by the police.
Similarly, in Bulandshahr, a mentally challenged man was beaten up by a mob on the same suspicion. In Hapur, a woman had to face the mob's wrath after being mistaken for a child lifter.
In Bareilly, on Monday, a mentally challenged man was punched, kicked and slapped for over an hour just because he had snatched a Rs 10 note from the hands of a child in the market place as he was hungry for days. Even the cops, who tried to intervene, were beaten up and chased away by the angry mob.
Additional forces had to be called in to control the situation. The victim was later hospitalised.
Earlier in Lakhimpur Kheri last week, three cops of Haryana police, in plain clothes, were suddenly surrounded by a mob as they were mistaken for being child-lifters. They were later rescued by the local police.
Senior police officials attribute these incidents to rumours being spread through the social media.
In some districts where such incidents have taken place, authorities are making public announcements to assure people of the presence of police all the time and that no child-lifting gang was active in the area.
Inspector General Meerut zone, Alok Singh has even issued an advisory against rumour-mongering over child-lifting that led to mob violence in various districts. The police advisory said that strict action would be taken against those found indulging in violence. They would be identified from the videos of violence circulating on the social media and CCTV footage.
DGO O.P. Singh said the police had increased patrolling to avert such incidents and a strict vigil was also being maintained on the social media to check rumours that lead to mob lynching. "We are also identifying persons involved in such incidents and punitive action will be taken against them," he said.
(With Agency Inputs)
