Two men thrashed in Chennai over suspicion of being child-lifters; incident comes on heels of Dhule lynching

Two men in Chennai were thrashed by a group of people over suspicion that they were trying to kidnap a child, according to reports. A similar incident was also reported from Maharashtra’s Dhule, where five persons were killed by villagers on suspicion that they were part of a gang of child lifters. [caption id=“attachment_4400211” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Representational image. IBN Live[/caption] The two men, who worked as labourers with the Chennai Metro, were thrashed over the suspicion that they were trying to kidnap a child. According to The Times of India, they were attacked when they tried to stop a child from crossing a busy road. A bystander suspected them to be child-lifters and a crowd soon gathered and beat them up. They were rescued by the police and rushed to a hospital, the report added. Police arrested one person in connection with the Chennai incident, according to NDTV. A similar incident was reported from Dhule. The five men, along with a few others , were seen getting down from a state transport bus in the tribal Rainpada hamlet and when one of them apparently tried to speak to a girl child, villagers, who had gathered for the weekly Sunday bazaar, pounced on them, police said. Twenty-three people have been arrested so far for their alleged involvement in the incident. Dhule Superintendent of Police told ANI that the police has identified a few more accused and sent teams to search for them. Police, according to India Today, said that the five persons were killed in Dhule after videos of child lifters were actively circulated on a WhatsApp group. The incidents come in the backdrop of a spate of similar cases in several parts of the country when people were either attacked or lynched on suspicion of being child abductors. Reportedly, 14 lives have been claimed across the country in mob lynchings based on social media rumours. With inputs from PTI