More Than 20 Lynched Over Child Lifting Rumours In 2018, Here's Why Mob Justice Is Prevailing

Five people were mercilessly lynched in Maharashtra on July 1 on suspicion of being child lifters. On June 29, a hawker from Uttar Pradesh was beaten to death by an unruly mob in Tripura. On June 27, another man was killed by mob in Madhya Pradesh.

The list can go on and on...

In the last two months, over 20 people have been lynched by bloodthirsty mobs on the suspicion of being the child lifters. The ¡®child kidnap¡¯ rumours doing rounds on WhatsApp has already claimed many lives so far.

Ironically, the man lynched in Tripura was actually hired by Information and Culture Department of the state to make people aware about the fake rumours of child lifting.

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So what¡¯s fueling this violence?

The answer is Fear.

The fear of separation from their loved ones, the fear of their loved one being harmed, the fear of their loved ones being amputated and made to beg on streets like the children they have been seeing all their lives.

And finally, these fears turn an otherwise divided people into a mob that kills.

Here are some of the incidents of mob lynching this year:

July 1: 5 lynched in Maharashtra¡¯s Dhule district.

June 28: 3 lynched to death in Tripura in a single day, including a man hired by the government to go around dispelling rumours.

June 27: A man was thrashed on the suspicion of being a child lifter in Madhya Pradesh¡¯s Singrauli district.

June 26: 40-year-old beggar woman killed in Ahmedabad, Gujarat.

June 26: A 45-year-old woman was assaulted on suspicion of being a child-lifter in Surat.

June 23: Man lynched to death in East Midnapore, West Bengal.

June 13: Man lynched to death in Malta, West Bengal.

June 8: 2 lynched in Aurangabad, Maharashtra.

June 8: 2 lynched to death in Assam.

May 28: Mob beat transgender to death in Andhra Pradesh

May 25: Mob beat a youth to death in Karnataka

May 23: Man lynched in Bengaluru.

May 22: Mob lynched 6 in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana in separate incidents.

May 10: Mob killed 2 in Tamil Nadu.

Here are some of the reasons behind to mob lynching:

1. Facebook stories

It is said that rumours travel faster than light. Easy availability of internet is the major reason behind these unruly lynchings. While scrolling, we often come across nerve-racking articles on child lifting, human trafficking, child pornography, etc that it makes us feel insecure for our kids.

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People knew about these crimes even before the era of the affordable internet, but now we get constant reminders on social media. This somehow makes us believe in rumours.

2. WhatApp groups

Some would say WhatsApp also falls in the ambit of social media. But there is a difference because unlike Facebook where you are connected to relatively unknown people, on WhatApp, you stay in touch with people you trust. So when rumours spread on WhatsApp, people tend to take them more seriously, which often results in mob justice. Maharashtra¡¯s lynching is one such example of WhatsApp mob lynching.

¡°The accused hails from a tribal village where WhatsApp posts pertaining to child kidnappers had gone viral. Based on the posts, the mob suspected them to be child lifters and thrashed them to death. We have detained 15 people so far and the investigations are underway,¡± M Ramkumar, Dhule SP told The Indian Express

3. The reality that we see daily

The moment we step out of our homes, the fear of being harassed, kidnapped, raped, robbed grips us. The fear is of course subjective to one¡¯s gender. Our fears get reaffirmed when we see men staring at girls, people¡¯s pockets being picked in buses and trains and children begging at traffic signals.

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Whenever people listen to any such rumours, they often decide to help others and turn into a mob.

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4. The biological bond feeds the fear

Religion isn¡¯t the only thing that turns people into blind mobs. The love for their children also has the same effect. Any rumour that has the slightest possibility of being true triggers their fear of losing them.

Thus- the lynching.