Mob kills man after Whatsapp rumours

INDIAN police have arrested 32 people after a man was killed by a mob in the country’s latest lynching over suspicion of child kidnapping sparked by rumours on Whatsapp.

The men were arrested over the murder of Mohammad Azam, a Google employee who was attacked, along with two friends, by a 2,000-strong mob in southern Karnataka state’s Bidar district on Friday.

Azam’s friends, including a Qatar national, were critically injured in the assault that came days after the messaging service published ads in Indian newspapers offering tips to curb fake information on its platform. In the last two months, more than 20 people have been lynched in India after being accused of child abduction.

Police said 27-year-old Azam and his companions were returning to their home in neighbouring Hyderabad city after visiting a friend in Bidar when they stopped to offer chocolates to local schoolchildren.

“One of them had bought chocolates from Qatar and tried to offer them to the children as a token of affection,” VN Patil, Bidar’s deputy police chief, said. But one of the children started crying, alerting adults who accused the men of being child kidnappers.

Patil said the three fled but were attacked by a much larger mob a few miles away after locals alerted nearby villages via Whatsapp. Their car hit a roadblock before they were dragged out of the vehicle and beaten.

Three policemen were injured in rescue attempt.

Earlier this month, five people were killed in a similar attack in western India.