Man lynched, abduction rumours stir panic in UP

The death in Asalatpur Jarai village of Sambhal district is the first fatality in nearly 50 instances of mob violence since the beginning of August.

A man in his late twenties was lynched by a mob in a western Uttar Pradesh town, police said on Wednesday, sounding a caution for public after noticing a near statewide spike in instances of mob violence triggered by rumours of child abduction.

The man killed in Sambhal on Tuesday evening was with his brother and they were taking their nephew to a doctor when they were attacked by the mob. (HT FILE)

The death in Asalatpur Jarai village of Sambhal district is the first fatality in nearly 50 instances of mob violence since the beginning of August, according to police officials who attributed the incidents to panic spread by rumours of child kidnappers on the prowl.

“We appeal to people on the social media not to pay heed to such rumours. Appeals are also being made through public announcement systems in affected areas. Charges under the National Security Act (NSA) will be slapped against accused if such cases are reported in future,” said director general of police OP Singh.

The victims in some of these incidents have included children, families visiting other villages, elderly women, and – in a case reported on Wednesday -- a health team waiting in an ambulance. The man killed in Sambhal on Tuesday evening was with his brother and they were taking their nephew to a doctor when they were attacked by the mob.

The attackers are often frenzied by images and videos sent through popular mobile messaging applications and social media that purport to show the kidnapping of children or suspected individuals – usually material that is fake, taken out of context, or not from India.

“One such message says a group of 15 is out to abduct children to harvest their organs, which is fake information. In many cases, people travelling from one village to another have been targeted since the locals do not recognise them,” said a police official from Meerut, asking not to be named.

Of the 46 incidents reported this month, 19 are from the Meerut zone. The second-highest figure has been reported from Agra, followed by Kanpur and Bareilly. Similar incidents with comparable frequency have also been reported in Bihar, where police officials said they noticed a spurt in instances since mid-July.

Lynching and mob violence based on misinformation through mobile messaging and social media applications first emerged as a trend early last year, prompting the government, the Supreme Court and service providers such as WhatsApp to take measures.

The top court issued detailed guidelines for preventive, punitive and remedial measures to be taken by the federal and state governments to prevent and punish mob violence, and ordered states to enact new laws that specifically deal with mob vigilantism.

The Rajasthan assembly became among the first states to pass a specific law, laying down life term for convicts in cases of lynching. A Bengal government official on Tuesday said the state too will soon pass a similar law.

In Uttar Pradesh, the law commission proposed in July a draft bill with similar provisions as Rajasthan and UP, but the legislation is yet to be put to the House.

In July, 2018, WhatsApp limited the number of people a message could be forwarded to in one go and included a new label to indicate a message was a forward – measures aimed at curbing the spread of misinformation.

(With inputs from HTC in Patna and New Delhi)