On August 9, Facebook user Prakash Kundra posted two photographs and a video of a man who is taken hostage by a mob. Sharing the video, Kundra claimed that the man in the video is a child-kidnapper who was caught by locals near Gandhi marg located in Rajasthan’s Bandikui city. In the video, a woman has held the man by his arms while a mob is interrogating him. Several people can be seen filming the incident.
बांदीकुई मे गांधी पार्क से बच्चे को उठाकर ले जाते हुए बच्चा चोर की धुनाई
Posted by Prakash Kundra on Friday, 9 August 2019
One more Facebook user posted another video of the same incident with the same claim.
Drunk man held captive on suspicion of child lifting
With a keyword search on Google, Alt News found a report published by Dainik Bhaskar on August 10, which said that a man was held hostage by locals in Bandikui on suspicions of being involved with a ‘child-lifting gang’. According to the report, some people were following this person and when they finally caught him near a cinema hall at Sikandra road, he was beaten up.
Alt News contacted Bandikui police station regarding the matter. SHO Rajendra Kumar said, “That day, this young man was drunk and roaming in the park. He closely passed a child who was playing in one of the corners of the park and it was dark at that time. The mother of the child made some comment on the man as she was suspicious of him. In response, the man misbehaved with the woman by making an ill-comment. Some more people got involved in the matter after which he tried to flee from the scene but was later caught and a few more men joined. Following this, he was beaten up by them. When asked about his identity by the mob, he gave incorrect information. Police had reached the spot and detained him for verification. No physical injuries were observed on his body. Yes, he might have created a nuisance but this is not a child-kidnapping case.”
In conclusion, a video of a drunk man who was falsely accused of being a child-lifter and taken hostage by a mob in Dausa district, Rajasthan was circulated on social media to spread false ‘child-kidnapping’ rumours.
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