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Fake news spread on social media: Two men are the latest to be lynched in India because of false rumours spread on WhatsApp accusing victims of kidnapping children
Sickening footage has emerged of two men being beaten to death by a mob in India after they stopped and asked for directions.
Nilotpal Das and Abijeet Nath were lynched in the north-eastern Assam state after false accusations of being child kidnappers.
It is the latest case of WhatsApp rumours accusing people of abducting children that has led to a rise in vigilante justice.
Indian police have arrested 16 people following the heinous deaths of Nilotpal and Abijeet that was filmed and went viral over the weekend.
The pair from Guwahati stopped to ask for directions to a nearby waterfall on Friday when they were dragged, tied up, punched, kicked and whacked with sticks.
There were rumours of child traffickers in the Dokmoka area of Krabi Anglong and the men’s ‘long hair’ aroused suspicion.
Nilotpal begged in the video: ‘Don’t kill me. Please don’t beat me. I am an Assamese. Believe me, I am speaking the truth,’ according to NDTV.
He gave attackers the name of his parents as proof but the lynching continued.
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Cops were called and the two men bled to death on the way to hospital.
Police admit difficulty to contain the scourge of WhatsApp rumours that spread fake information about potential child abductors.
When rumours start circulating on social media, it takes some time to stop them completely,’ senior police official Mukesh Agarwal told BBC Hindi’s Dilip Kumar Sharma.
Sometimes videos are doctored and unsuspecting victims, who may not even be from the region or speak the language, are swiftly set upon by locals.
Police were watching various social media sites to try to stop the spread of the messages after issuing a public appeal last month.
It is not clear how this trend started, but cases of mob justice in India are on the rise.
Last month, six people were killed in separate incidents prompted by WhatsApp rumours about a child kidnapping gang.
Most shockingly, a 55-year old woman in Tamil Nadu was lynched for giving sweets to children.
The latest violence prompted a protest by hundreds of students and activists in Guwahati.
It turned violent when groups began pelting stones and bricks at police.
