Thane: A 25-year-old mentally unstable man from Sonaji Nagar of Mumbra in Thane district was thrashed by the mob on suspicion of being a child-lifter on Friday, September 30.
On Friday afternoon a mentally unstable man from Sonaji Nagar, Mumbra carried one 4-year-old boy and took him in his arms and started walking. When the locals from the area saw the man carrying the boy, they snatched the child from his arms and started beating him, thinking of him as a child -lifter.
Ashok Kadlag, senior police inspector, Mumbra police station said, "On Friday afternoon We received information from the locals that a mentally unfit man is surrounded by the mob on the suspicion of being a child-lifter. After receiving the information, we soon reached the spot and saw that the crowd was gathered and they were about to beat the man. The mentally unfit man's family members also reached the spot and they interfered with the mob. The family members told the mob that the man is undergoing treatment and his mental balance is not good. However, the crowd was not ready to hear anything, but some local people rescued him. Our team reached the spot and somehow took the youth out of the clutches of the crowd and took him to the Mumbra police station. This person is not a child-lifter, his mental balance is not good."
Earlier on September 29, 2022 Victim Pintu Nissar (30) who works in a local hotel was standing by the roadside in Diva when a speeding truck went past him. When the speeding truck passed he stepped back a bit and a girl standing behind him got pushed back and fell down. Soon after the girl fell Pintu Nissar tried to lift her up and the girl's mother after seeing it raised an alarm suspecting him to be a child-lifter When the mother of the girl raised an alarm the people gather around Pintu Nissar and started beating him with whatever they could lay their hands on including iron rod and wooden items. The victim pleaded with everyone that he is not a child-lifter as people suspected him but no one believed him and continued attacking him.
On September 16, 2022, the two women were roaming in the locality and they were beggars but due to the rumours on social media regarding child lifters, the women were mistaken as child lifters and the residents of Mumbra Devi colony spotted them and thrashed them. No cases were registered in the incident.
A video of both two women getting thrashed and also the hotel staff from Diva and a mentally unfit man being beaten on suspicion of being child-lifters was widely circulated on social media.
Shashi Agarwal, president of NGO Madat Samajik Sanstha, Thane said, "Following rumours about child-lifters a sense of panic has set in among the people of Mumbra and surrounding areas. Many parents are also not sending their children to school. Even though the police have been giving a clarification that the fake message is being circulated on social media, the parents are yet to be reassured. On suspicion of being child lifters four people were thrashed in the month of September. The police later found that the public's alarm turned out to be false."
Kasber Augustine, president of NGO Thane Citizens Foundation said, "For last one month the video is going viral on social media that some child-lifters are active in around Maharashtra and they are lifting the children from outside the schools and selling their body parts which is just a rumour. Police have several times through social media and other platforms been sensitising people but people are taking the law into their own hands and beating wrong people on the suspicion of being child-lifters which is wrong. Whenever people see someone suspicious they should inform the police first instead of start thrashing them."
Mumbra police station senior police inspector Ashok Kadlag said, " We will be taking strict action against those spreading rumours about child-lifters and also against those who will assault unknown persons instead of alerting the police. We have not registered any case against anyone but we have appealed to the people not to fall prey to rumours linked to child-lifting."
