Police in Bengaluru have arrested four people in connection with the thrashing of a mentally-ill man from Odisha on suspicion of being a child lifter.
This was after the video of a 25-old-man being mercilessly assaulted by the local residents of Patalamma Layout went viral on social media. In the video, the man can be seen tied to a tree as the mob thrash him.
The incident took place on Wednesday afternoon in Bengaluru’s Whitefield area. According to police, the residents attacked him based on a WhatsApp rumour that a gang of child-lifters had entered the area.
Local police were able to rush to the spot and take the man to the police station. After interrogation, they learnt that he is mentally disturbed and admitted to hospital, reported Deccan Chronicle.
Abdul Ahad, DCP (Whitefield), said that there was no truth in rumours of child lifters entering the neighbourhood. Ahad urged people to verify the news, circulated on social media platforms.
In July, in a chilling development, a techie working for Google in Karnataka was lynched to death on suspicion of being a child-lifter following WhatsApp rumour-mongering. This came after a series of mob-lynching incidents based on WhatsApp rumours being reported from across India in the recent weeks.
Mohammad Azam, a 32-year-old techie working for Google, was beaten to death by a mob in Bidar on Friday evening. The incident took place in Murki village of Bidar District.