WhatsApp rumours fuel rise in India’s mob violence
Social media giant takes out newspaper adverts warning users to think before sharing messages
in New Delhi
IT WAS such a simple, harmless plan – three young men from Hyderabad were taking a visiting friend to see some of India’s countryside and escape the city for the weekend.
They intended to stay with another friend in his quaint village, in the next state of Karnataka, around 100 miles away.
Hours later, one of the group would be dead, killed by an angry mob. Three would end up in hospital and another would be assaulted and left too scared to go out.
“I don’t feel safe”, Mohammad Afroz, the friend in the village of Handikera the others had come to see, told The Sunday Telegraph. “I won’t until those responsible are in jail. Even then, I am not sure how I will feel being outside.”
Later that day, Mohammad Azam Usmanseb, 32, an IT technician, was killed by an angry crowd who were under the delusion that he and his friends were “child lifters”. Salham Eid alQubassi, Mohammad Salman and Noor Mohammad Sadique, who had all driven from Hyderabad, were also savagely assaulted.
Mr Afroz was also beaten, but managed to avoid serious injury.
The group of friends were just five of the dozens of victims of mob violence that has spread across India in the past five months. The attacks follow a similar pattern: outsiders come to a rural spot, where they are falsely accused of kidnapping children based on what they have been told in multiple messages on WhatsApp, a crowd gathers and violence ensues.
“When it comes to fake news and WhatsApp, we found ourselves in uncharted territory,” said Supt Rema Rajeshwari, of Telangana State Police.
“It’s been a huge challenge for us to fight the speed with which these rumours spread. It’s extremely difficult to get inside WhatsApp to track them.”
Ms Rajeshwari heads the only police unit dedicated to battling fake news, mob violence and inflammatory use of social media. She has been lauded for her efforts by politicians and media.
Bon anniversaire
Azam is one of 31 people killed in the past six months as a result of mob lynchings across 10 states.
Mr Afroz says his attack happened after one of his friends gave sweets to some children. When the group drove to a waterfall and picnic area, they were joined by three people. “They accused us of being child lifters because of the chocolates – we denied it and said we were just here for a day out.
“Then more people turned up with forks, shovels, anything they could get their hands on and started hitting us. It was terrifying,” he said.
The group ran in different directions. Mr Afroz and Mr Sadique hid in some bushes, while Azam, Mr Qubassi and Mr Salman got in their red SUV and drove away to get help. However the attackers called other villagers in the direction they drove, and told them to block the road and chase the car.
The SUV was subsequently run off the road. The mob, now grown to 200 people, attacked the passengers in the SUV.
Police officers arrived at the scene and appear in video footage, seen by The Sunday Telegraph, begging the crowd to stop as an unconscious Azam was thrashed to death.
Mr Afroz says the police did what they could – 30 people have been arrested – but he is still afraid.
In response to the series of attacks since February, police have battled the surge in mob lynchings – both on a tech and human level. Ms Rajeshwari said: “This campaign has become successful because of the involvement of local officers. All the families know them, the kids know them, even the crooks know them.”
However, replicating such a community-focused approach across India will prove a serious challenge, with one just one officer for every 720 people, according to a 2015 report. In comparison, the UK has one for every 450.
WhatsApp has announced changes to its forwarding system, and took out newspaper adverts in several languages and advise users in its biggest market “to think before sharing messages that were forwarded”, last month.
But Dr Era Dutta, a clinical neuropsychiatrist based in Kolkata, said the messaging service has failed to grasp the underlying problem.
“The mob mentality is basically a caveman mentality – being aggressively protective of your own area.”
Changes to the law are being made, that would make mob lynchings a separate crime. The bigger question remains unanswered: why do lynchings happen in the first place?
“The herd mentality means that not taking part can lead to you fearing that you may be next,” said Dr Dutta. “And that has become a part of the psychology of India.”