crown

Subscribe Now

FOLLOW US

Sign in

Photos: Rumours fuel mob fury in UP’s Asalatpur Jarai

On August 27, two men were lynched by a mob on suspicion of child lifting. These men were migrant workers and were taking their nephew to a doctor in the absence of his father at Asalatpur Jarai village in Uttar Pradesh when a group of people blocked them due to floating rumours of child lifters around the village. One of them died on spot and the other is recovering from multiple fractures. The continued rumours through WhatsApp forwards and other channels has contributed to a rise in mob lynching culture in India over the past one and half year. As many as 90 people were arrested across Uttar Pradesh in August for mob violence in which 29 people were injured.

Updated on: Sep 14, 2019 2:38 PM IST

Share via

Copy link

1/10

As the long day wound down, a bunch of men gathered under a tree in the village of Asalatpur Jarai in western Uttar Pradesh for an evening adda. Curiously, though, they discussed neither their daily affairs nor regional politics. Instead, they huddled around a mobile phone and watched a video. It featured extreme violence – 200-odd people attacking two men, killing one and leaving the other barely alive. (Amal KS / HT Photo)

Updated on Sep 14, 2019 2:38 PM

As the long day wound down, a bunch of men gathered under a tree in the village of Asalatpur Jarai in western Uttar Pradesh for an evening adda. Curiously, though, they discussed neither their daily affairs nor regional politics. Instead, they huddled around a mobile phone and watched a video. It featured extreme violence – 200-odd people attacking two men, killing one and leaving the other barely alive. (Amal KS / HT Photo)

2/10

Rani (L), daughter of the deceased, grieves the death of her father who was attacked by a mob while passing through Asalatpur Jarai on a motorbike carrying his sick nephew Ravi to a hospital. In the video, the mob first beats the two men, Raju and Ramavtar with their hands, slapping and punching them till they fall down. The beating continues, egged on by cries of “maro, maro (beat them)” resonating through the crowd. (Amal KS / HT Photo)

Updated on Sep 14, 2019 2:38 PM

Rani (L), daughter of the deceased, grieves the death of her father who was attacked by a mob while passing through Asalatpur Jarai on a motorbike carrying his sick nephew Ravi to a hospital. In the video, the mob first beats the two men, Raju and Ramavtar with their hands, slapping and punching them till they fall down. The beating continues, egged on by cries of “maro, maro (beat them)” resonating through the crowd. (Amal KS / HT Photo)

3/10

The spot where Ramavtar and Raju were attacked. Someone called Sushil Kumar, the village head from here but even he failed to rescue the two men from the mob. “Some of us carried one of the brothers to a nearby shop and pulled the shutters down, but the mob broke in and dragged him out. I got beaten up myself,” said Kumar. (Amal KS / HT Photo)

Updated on Sep 14, 2019 2:38 PM

The spot where Ramavtar and Raju were attacked. Someone called Sushil Kumar, the village head from here but even he failed to rescue the two men from the mob. “Some of us carried one of the brothers to a nearby shop and pulled the shutters down, but the mob broke in and dragged him out. I got beaten up myself,” said Kumar. (Amal KS / HT Photo)

4/10

Ramavtar, the brother who survived, at his residence in Chhabra village. Raju and Ramavtar worked as migrant labourers and happened at the time to be on a break from construction sites in Punjab. They were taking their sick nephew to the nearest hospital, in Chandausi block, because his father, also a migrant worker, was away from home. (Amal KS / HT Photo)

Updated on Sep 14, 2019 2:38 PM

Ramavtar, the brother who survived, at his residence in Chhabra village. Raju and Ramavtar worked as migrant labourers and happened at the time to be on a break from construction sites in Punjab. They were taking their sick nephew to the nearest hospital, in Chandausi block, because his father, also a migrant worker, was away from home. (Amal KS / HT Photo)

5/10

The footage is accompanied by narration, by someone who presumes himself to be a voice of the people. He tells viewers that the people of the village have identified two child kidnappers and are punishing them. He zooms in as someone in the mob asks one of the bleeding men where he picked up the kid from. The man says the kid is his nephew but no one listens. (Amal KS / HT Photo)

Updated on Sep 14, 2019 2:38 PM

The footage is accompanied by narration, by someone who presumes himself to be a voice of the people. He tells viewers that the people of the village have identified two child kidnappers and are punishing them. He zooms in as someone in the mob asks one of the bleeding men where he picked up the kid from. The man says the kid is his nephew but no one listens. (Amal KS / HT Photo)

6/10

“First a woman claimed that the boy sitting between the two men on the motorbike seemed to be crying. Then some people asked the men to stop but they didn’t, which made them suspicious and one of them rode out and blocked their path, if they had stopped after the first call, perhaps they wouldn’t have been attacked,” Kumar, the village chief said. He is not so sure of that, however. (Amal KS / HT Photo)

Updated on Sep 14, 2019 2:38 PM

“First a woman claimed that the boy sitting between the two men on the motorbike seemed to be crying. Then some people asked the men to stop but they didn’t, which made them suspicious and one of them rode out and blocked their path, if they had stopped after the first call, perhaps they wouldn’t have been attacked,” Kumar, the village chief said. He is not so sure of that, however. (Amal KS / HT Photo)

7/10

The rumours continue to circulate through the villages despite public service announcements, social media appeals, and physical mobile phone checks. The mob rule continues, too. In the days after the lynching in Sambhal, similar incidents were reported from Meerut, Baghpat, Muzaffarnagar, Ghaziabad and Hapur. As many as 90 people were arrested across Uttar Pradesh in August for mob violence in which 29 people were injured, said OP Singh, the state’s director general of police. (Amal KS / HT Photo)

Updated on Sep 14, 2019 2:38 PM

The rumours continue to circulate through the villages despite public service announcements, social media appeals, and physical mobile phone checks. The mob rule continues, too. In the days after the lynching in Sambhal, similar incidents were reported from Meerut, Baghpat, Muzaffarnagar, Ghaziabad and Hapur. As many as 90 people were arrested across Uttar Pradesh in August for mob violence in which 29 people were injured, said OP Singh, the state’s director general of police. (Amal KS / HT Photo)

8/10

Satyendra Pal Singh, whose son is among those arrested for the attack. Eleven people have been arrested so far for their involvement in the lynching and charged under the National Security Act. “Additionally, non-bailable warrants have been issued against 19 people,” Yamuna Prasad, superintendent of police in Sambhal district said. “Across the region, 150 people have been arrested for spreading child-lifting rumours,” he added. (Amal KS / HT Photo)

Updated on Sep 14, 2019 2:38 PM

Satyendra Pal Singh, whose son is among those arrested for the attack. Eleven people have been arrested so far for their involvement in the lynching and charged under the National Security Act. “Additionally, non-bailable warrants have been issued against 19 people,” Yamuna Prasad, superintendent of police in Sambhal district said. “Across the region, 150 people have been arrested for spreading child-lifting rumours,” he added. (Amal KS / HT Photo)

9/10

Life hasn’t been the same for residents of Asalatpur Jarai. Hundreds have locked up their houses and left the village to avoid being questioned or arrested. Some are still trying to make sense of what happened. Watching the video is a part of that exercise, but doesn’t explain why a mob consisting of people they know attacked innocent men travelling with their nephew. So, they have come up with some explanations of their own. (Amal KS / HT Photo)

Updated on Sep 14, 2019 2:38 PM

Life hasn’t been the same for residents of Asalatpur Jarai. Hundreds have locked up their houses and left the village to avoid being questioned or arrested. Some are still trying to make sense of what happened. Watching the video is a part of that exercise, but doesn’t explain why a mob consisting of people they know attacked innocent men travelling with their nephew. So, they have come up with some explanations of their own. (Amal KS / HT Photo)

10/10

Recently dispatched from a hospital in Moradabad, where he was admitted with multiple fractures, Ramavtar doesn’t know when he will walk again. His treatment costs are an additional burden for his family, which has already lost one earning member. His nephew, Ravi, no longer suffers from the stomach ache that set off the incidents of August 27, but he hasn’t spoken since that day. (Amal KS / HT Photo)

Updated on Sep 14, 2019 2:38 PM

Recently dispatched from a hospital in Moradabad, where he was admitted with multiple fractures, Ramavtar doesn’t know when he will walk again. His treatment costs are an additional burden for his family, which has already lost one earning member. His nephew, Ravi, no longer suffers from the stomach ache that set off the incidents of August 27, but he hasn’t spoken since that day. (Amal KS / HT Photo)

Related Photos

Home/Photos/News/Photos: Rumours Fuel Mob Fury In UP’s Asalatpur Jarai

© 2026 HindustanTimes