{"id":15684,"date":"2018-07-03T19:35:03","date_gmt":"2018-07-03T14:05:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.altnews.in\/english-clone-2026\/?p=15684"},"modified":"2018-07-09T18:11:34","modified_gmt":"2018-07-09T12:41:34","slug":"june-round-up-rampant-child-abduction-rumours-result-in-mob-lynching-incidents-across-country","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.altnews.in\/english-clone-2026\/june-round-up-rampant-child-abduction-rumours-result-in-mob-lynching-incidents-across-country\/","title":{"rendered":"June round-up: Rampant child abduction rumours result in mob-lynching incidents across country"},"content":{"rendered":"

June turned out to be ominous insofar as the sinister impact of misinformation is concerned. Rumours of child abductors abounded in various states, shared via WhatsApp. The suspicion, mistrust and fear created by these messages which mostly circulated with gory images and videos of alleged child kidnappers being assaulted by the public resulted in the death of almost 20 people across the country. Misinformation of this nature was all-pervasive in June and continues unabated.<\/p>\n

1. Child abduction rumours turn fatal<\/strong><\/h3>\n

A spate of rumours erupted in June in many states across the country from Uttar Pradesh to Maharashtra to Tamil Nadu. These rumours were generated and spread via WhatsApp and warned citizens of child abduction gangs on the prowl.<\/p>\n

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The above message was circulating in Bihar, Jharkhand and Odisha<\/a>. Alt News had found that the same set of images was being used across the country. Most of the photographs were unrelated and had nothing to do with child abduction. Yet, these rumours continued unabated and spread to other states. In Maharashtra<\/a>, WhatsApp messages warned of gangs who have abducted young girls and extracted their organs. A 40 year old woman was lynched in Ahmedabad<\/a> on suspicion of child lifting.<\/p>\n

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According to reports<\/a>, atleast 18 people have been killed on suspicion since May 2018 as\u00a0mob violence erupted in different parts of the country. There has been no respite; in the latest incident, five people were lynched<\/a> in Dhule, Maharashtra after they were suspected of being child kidnappers.<\/p>\n

A video was also widely circulated<\/a>\u00a0in which a child can be seen being abducted. This video was shared in different states claiming that the gang seen in the video is active in the area. Alt News found that\u00a0this is an old video from 2016 made for awareness purposes by an organization named Roshni Helpline. The video ends with the text:\u00a0\u201cEvery year, over 3000 children go missing in Karachi, Pakistan. Keep an eye on your child.\u201d<\/em>\u00a0The abduction was staged to educate people about rampant child abduction in Karachi. The original video is posted below.<\/p>\n