Jharkhand: Mentally challenged man beaten over child-lifting rumor
In Jharkhand, two men were beaten up by villagers in separate incidents after being wrongly suspected of child-lifting—one while traveling with a young boy in Deoghar, and another, a mentally challenged man, in Koderma.
Both were rescued by police and taken to hospital.
Sadly, these aren't isolated cases; the state has seen 12 similar attacks across eight districts within just five days.
FIR yet to be lodged
An FIR will be lodged once the Deoghar victim's condition stabilizes; the Koderma report only said the man was rescued and sent to hospital.
To tackle the spread of rumors, officials in Jamtara launched an awareness drive urging people to report concerns to emergency number 112.
Kids in Khunti even went door-to-door sharing helpline numbers.
Meanwhile, Bokaro district officials said more than 300 social media accounts were identified and the police were asked to take action.
Jharkhand Police has said there are no organized child-lifting gangs and that most panic is fueled by WhatsApp forwards and misinformation.