Indian mob lynches two men over child kidnap rumour

TWO tourists in India were lynched after rumours they were child kidnappers circulated on social media.

Police arrested 16 people in the north-eastern Assam state, following violent protests over the killings of Niltopal Das, 29, an audio engineer, and Abijeet Nath, 30, a digital artist.

The pair had gone to a picnic spot on Friday night in the Karbi Anglong district to visit a waterfall and were attacked on their return by a mob that accused them of being “child lifters” when they stopped at a village to ask for directions.

Officials said the attack was prompted by rumours spread via telephone calls and Whatsapp messages that the two were fleeing in their black SUV with a kidnapped child.

A video went viral on Facebook over the weekend, in which one of the victims is seen pleading for his life, telling the mob that he was innocent.

“Don’t kill me, please don’t beat me… please let me go… believe me, I am speaking the truth” were Mr Das’s last words before he was beaten by the mob with bamboo sticks and hanged from a nearby tree. His companion was similarly killed.

Rumours on Facebook and Whatsapp of children being kidnapped and killed, supposedly for their body parts, have recently gathered momentum across India.

The result has been at least six people being killed by vigilante mobs in as many weeks.

Police said some of the mob had been identified, but were in hiding.