Deaths |
July 28, 2018 |
Unidentified male (29) |
Dindori |
Madhya Pradesh |
1 |
|
|
10 |
A 29-year-old from a neighbouring district was suspected of being a child kidnapper and set upon by a mob wielding iron bars and bamboo rods. They threw the body in a well where it was discovered a week later.[14] |
July 26, 2018 |
Dhan Singh (male), Ram Swaroop Sen (male), Dashrath Ahirwar (male) |
Hanumanganj, Bhopal |
Madhya Pradesh |
0 |
3 |
15 |
|
Three drunk men, in town to purchase an auto rickshaw, try to help a boy cross the road and were set upon by a crowd calling them "bachcha chor" (child thief). The three were rescued by police.[15] |
July 24, 2018 |
Four women |
Dawkimari village, Jalpaiguri |
West Bengal |
0 |
4 |
|
|
Four non-local women were assaulted by mobs on suspicion of being child-lifers. Two were visiting relatives, one was a clothes hawker and one was visiting the bank. Two of the women were stripped by the mob, all four were taken to hospital by police and are in a stable condition.[16] |
July 19, 2018 |
1 woman (25) |
Bhosh village, Morwa, Singrauli |
Madhya Pradesh |
1 |
|
|
14 |
Following the circulation of WhatsApp messages a group of tribal men suspected a homeless, mentally-disabled woman, attacking her with sticks, rods and a pick-axe. Her body was dumped in the jungle, but found shortly afterwards by the police.[17] |
July 18, 2018 |
25 persons |
Kranti area, Mal Block |
Bihar |
0 |
29 |
|
|
25 passengers of the Sampoorna Kranti Express were injured after an angry mob pelted stones.[18] Police fired in the air to disperse the crowd and four were injured. At least report alleges the motivation for the attack was rumours of child-snatchers entering the area.[16] |
July 16, 2018 |
Mohammed Azam (2, Salham Eid Al Kubasi, Noor Mohammed, 1 other man |
Bidar district |
Karnataka |
1 |
3 |
2000[19] |
32[20] |
IT worker, Mohammed Azam was visiting a relative with three friends when they saw some children in the village to whom they gave Qatari chocolates. Villages, suspecting them to be child-snatchers turned hostile. The group fled in their car, but residents called ahead to the next village of Murki who blocked the road. The car flipped into a ditch and the men dragged were dragged out of [just guessing] the vehicle and beaten with sticks and stones. By the time the police arrived, Azam was dead whilst the others had sustained critical injuries.[21] Eight policemen were injured, two seriously.[22] |
July 12, 2018 |
1 woman |
Pathinettankudi, Melur |
Karnataka |
0 |
1 |
|
|
A North Indian woman was seen with biscuits in her hand and suspected of being a kidnapper. She was tied up and beaten until rescued by the police.[23] Locals said they had heard rumours of North Indian woman coming to kidnap children. |
July 7, 2018 |
Khalid (male) |
Ujire town, Mangaluru |
Karnataka |
0 |
1 |
|
|
Khalid was drunk and disciplining his 2 year old daughter in an auto when he was accosted by bystanders. Witnessing the crying girl they suspected him of being a child snatcher. A crowd gathered and began to beat him, the police rescued him and confirmed that he was the father of the child.[24] |
July 6, 2018 |
3 men |
Mahur |
Assam |
0 |
0 |
|
|
Three priests (ages between 26 and 31), arrived in Mahur in a car. A mob dragged them from the car, whilst other locals, fearing another Karbi Anglong situation sent for the army who arrived minutes later to rescue the men.[25] |
July 4, 2018 |
Unidentified man (17) |
Daipam, Darrang |
Assam |
0 |
1 |
|
|
A disoriented and schizophrenic youth entered a strangers' house by mistake triggering suspicion he was a child lifter. Locals thrashed him until he was rescued by the police.[26] |
July 1, 2018 |
2 men |
Teynampet, Chennai |
Tamil Nadu |
0 |
2 |
|
|
Two migrant labourers stopped to help the child of their former land-lady pick up currency notes she had dropped. Local, acting on rumours of kidnappers attacked and beat the two before police intervened and took them to the hospital where they survived.[27] |
June 29, 2018 |
Ramnath Bhat (male, 36) |
Ambikpur |
Chhattisgarh |
0 |
0 |
|
|
Ramnath, a phd scholar from London was conducting research amongst people in a village when he ruffled the hair of a child. Shortly afterwards he was lured to a location where a mob was gathering. He quickly called the police who arrived and rescued him.[28] |
June 26, 2018 |
Shantibed Marwadi (female, 45), Ashudevi Nath (female), Liladevi Nath (female), Anasi Nath (female) |
Ahmedabad |
Gujarat |
1 |
3 |
|
30 |
Four begger woman were travelling an auto when they were intercepted by men on motorcycles and set upon by a mob who overturned the auto and beaten them with sticks on suspicion of being child snatchers. Police intervened, but Shanti died of her injuries. The other three were hospitalised.[29] |
June 26, 2018 |
Dabiben (female, 45) |
Varachha, Surat |
Gujarat |
0 |
|
|
|
45 year old Dabiben was passing through the area with her own daughter when she was accused by a mob of being a child-lifter. Police intervened and took her to police station after which her husband arrived to verify her identity.[29] |
June 29, 2018 |
Jahir Khan (male), Gulzar Khan, Khursid Khan |
Murabari |
Tripura |
1 |
2 |
|
9[30] |
Three hawkers from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar where attacked with Jahir Khan beaten to death, and two others left battling for their lives.[31] The three fled to the camp of the Tripura State Rifles, but the mob overran the camp and police forces.[32] |
July 1, 2018 |
Gopal Sahoo (male, 25), Binod Vikari (25) |
Kamarajar Street, Chennai |
Tamil Nadu |
0 |
2 |
50 |
3 |
Two migrants from Odisha working on the Chennai Metro saw a small boy drop 10 rupees whilst running to his mother. Picking him up, they returned the money. A bystander asked the mother if she knew the two and when she said no, suspected them to be child-lifters. Calling together a crowd they gave chase, beating the two to unconsciousness in the presence of the police. They were taken to hospital and survived the attack. The prime accused is Balamurugan, P Aravindan, a local painter.[33] |
July 1, 2018 |
Dadarae Shakarao (male, 36), Bharat (male, 45), Bharat Malve (male, 45), Aagnu Srimant Ingole (male, 20), Raju Bhosale (male, 47) |
Rainpada village, Dhule district |
Maharashtra |
5 |
|
3000 |
26[34] |
Five tribals of the Nath Gosavi nomadic community where suspected to be child kidnappers after speaking to 6 year old girl and attacked by a mob with steel rods, sticks, stones and bricks. Police arrived but were not permitted to take the victim until they were dead. A police lathicharge was necessary to clear the mob.[35] Police identify over two dozen attackers from more than 40 videos made of the attack. Compensation was announced for the families of the deceased.[36] Reports describe men fleeing the village to avoid arrest.[37][35] It was reported that one of the videos shared prior to the attack was of dead Syrian children.[38] |
July 1, 2018 |
2 men, 2 women, 1 child |
Malegaon |
Maharashtra |
0 |
4 |
Thousands |
|
A family of daily wage labourers were accused by a teenager of being child abductors and set upon by surrounding crowd. All five were rescued by police. The crowd attacked police and overturned a police vehicle. The four are crtically injured in hospital.[39] Cause believed to be fake videos originating in Karnataka.[5] |
June 29, 2018 |
Trusthi Singh (female), Brijesh Bagri (male) |
Medholi village |
Madhya Pradesh |
0 |
2 |
|
3[40] |
Two forest officials were attacked by a mob on the basis of WhatsApp child abduction and organ rumours. The police successfully intervene in time to save their lives.[41] Later reports suggest local coal mafia may have instigated locals against them for their own purpose.[42] |
June 28, 2018 |
2 women, 4 men |
Laxmibil, Bishalgarh, Sipahijala |
Tripura |
1 |
3 |
1000[43] |
|
A mob attacked a group of four men and two women accusing them of child lifting. One woman was killed and the others badly injured.[44] |
June 28, 2018 |
Sukanta Chakraborty (33), and his driver |
Kalchhara |
Tripura |
1 |
1 |
|
9[30] |
Sukanta Chakraborty was hired by Tripura's Information and Culture department to raise public awareness about fake child-lifting messages. His van was attacked by a mob and he was beaten to death, whilst his driver escaped with injuries.[32] |
June 23, 2018 |
Sanjay Chandrav (36) |
Mathuri, East Midnapore |
West Bengal |
1 |
|
1000 |
4 |
Sanjay Chandra, a B.Com graduate was heading to a job interview and had his face covered in the heat. Stopping to speak to a small girl residents got suspicious and within minutes a crowd of 1000 had gathered to lynch him.[1] In spite of him telling the crowd he live in the neighbouring village and new the councillor there they did not believe him. He was admitted to hospital in a critical condition and died shortly afterwards.[45] |
June 23, 2018 |
1 man (25) |
Gondiya |
Maharashtra |
1 |
|
|
0 |
A 25 year old man looking for food was beaten to death by locals believing rumours of a local kidney thief.[46] |
June 22, 2018 |
1 man (40s) |
Mendrakala |
Chhattisgarh |
1 |
|
15 |
9 |
A 40 year old mentally-challenged man arrived in the village and when questioned by the locals as to why he was there, he could not answer. Having received messages about child lifters, the villagers beat him to death on suspicion of belonging to an abduction gang. The body was found beneath a bridge.[47] |
June 13, 2018 |
1 man |
Bulbulchandi-Dubapara, Habibpur |
Bihar |
1 |
|
|
3 |
An unidentified, homeless man was tied to a post beaten to death as suspicion of being a child kidnapper and organ harvester. Police rescued him but he died on the way to the hospital[48] Social media rumours blamed. |
June 8, 2018 |
Bharat Sonavne (male), Shivaji Shinde (male), and 7 other men |
Chandgaon, Vaijapur taluka |
Maharashtra |
2 |
7 |
1500 |
400 |
Two men were beaten to death and seven others were injured, one of them critically, after a mob of villagers attacked them with wooden sticks after receiving social media messages about a gang of robbers in the area.[49] |
June 8, 2018 |
Nilotpal Das (male, 29), Abhijit Nath (male, 30) |
Panijuri, Karbi Anglong |
Assam |
2 |
|
250 |
36 |
The 2018 Karbi Anglong lynching occurred when two men visiting the Kangthilangso waterfall to search for ornamental fish stopped their vehicle to ask villagers for directions. A mob of inebriated villages suspected them to be child abductors and attacked them with machetes, bamboo poles and wood.[50] The two men succumbed to their injuries before they could be taken to hospital.[51] Disturbing video was circulated of the two men covered in blood and begging for mercy.[52] |
June 6, 2018 |
Pankaj Bora (male), three other men |
Mandu Bay hamlet |
Assam |
0 |
4 |
|
|
The four forest rangers were patrolling the Kaziranga National Park for poachers when they were attacked by villagers who were shouting that the guards were child lifters.[53] Other reports that suggested that local sand mafia may have instigated the attack.[54] |
June 1, 2018 |
3 men |
Kudisampalli, Hosur |
Tamil Nadu |
1 |
|
|
7[55] |
Three north indian migrants were returning from work. Whilst waiting in Onnalvadi panchayat for some time they were attacked by a group who took them to be child abductors. Two men escaped, whilst one teenager was beaten to unconsciousness. When the police arrived he was bleeding profusely and died before reaching the hospital[56] Police advised migrant workers to confine themselves to their places of work and stay.[55] |
May 30, 2018 |
1 man |
Badapada, Patnagarh |
Orissa |
0 |
1 |
|
|
Mentally-challenged youth beaten up by a mob after being mistaken for a child-lifter. He sustained a serious head injury and was rescued by the police.[57] |
May 28, 2018 |
Chandraiah (female, 52), Swamy (male), Narashima (male), 1 other male |
Chandrayangutta, Hyderabad |
Telengana |
1 |
3 |
300[58] |
14[58] |
Chandraiah, a 52-year old transgender woman and three companions were travelling in the area asking for alms when they were suspected of being child kidnappers. Three were beaten and stoned by a mob of locals with a slab of concrete smashed over Chandraiah's head. Police intervened, but the mob burnt their vehicle.[59] The victims were taken to hospital with Chandraiah succumbing to her injuries.[60] Video circulated after the attack leading to arrests. An unusual development in this case was the arrest of two journalists for "abetment" by allegedly sharing fake news.[61] |
May 24, 2018 |
Deviah Naik (40), Degavath Laalu |
Chengal village, Nizambad |
Telengana |
1 |
1 |
|
|
Deviah, a tribal local to the area, stopped his truck for a tea break. He and his friend went into a mango orchard to pick fruit and were accosted by locals on suspicion of being a child-abductor.[62] They were tied with ropes and beaten with iron rods and sticks. Deviah died in hospital whilst Laalu was in a critical condition.[63] |
May 23, 2018 |
Bala Krishan (22) |
Jiyapally, near Bibinagar |
Telengana |
1 |
|
|
6 |
Auto driver Bala Krishna, a local of a neighbouring village, was visiting his relative in Jiyapally. Locals, having received messages about child kidnappers on WhatsApp suspected him and gathered a mob to attack him with sticks. The attackers left the injured man at the office of the gram panchayat whereupon other locals set upon him. The attack stopped with the arrival of his relative who took him to the hospital in Koremulla, but he died on the way.[61] |
May 23, 2018 |
Kalu Ram (26) |
Chamarajpet, Bengaluru |
Karnataka |
1 |
|
|
20 |
Rajasthani migrant Kalu Ram, a tiling worker, was walking through Pension Mohalla when locals attacked him suspecting him to be a child abductor. He was tied up, dragged through the streets and beaten with a cricket bat, wooden logs and other objects.[64] He died in hospital. Perpetrators included women and minors.[65] Videos of Kaluram's lynching went viral on social media and were used to identify suspects.[66] |
May 22, 2018 |
Nimmala Balakrishna |
Yadadri Bhuvanagiri |
Telengana |
1 |
|
|
|
Balakrishna came to the village to visit relatives but was accosted by some youths and beaten to death on suspicion of child-snatching.[62] |
May 22, 2018 |
Five unidentified people |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
May 23, 2018 |
Gautum Sahoo |
Old Town, Vishakapatnam |
Andhra Pradesh |
|
1 |
|
|
A mentally-challenged and homeless man was beaten by a mob and rescued by the police.[67] |
May 20, 2018 |
Unidentified man (25) |
Vishakapatnam |
Andhra Pradesh |
1 |
|
|
3 |
A Hindi-speaking man was stripped, tied to a pole and beaten to death by a mob. A grinding stone was used to batter his head.[68] The attack was linked to WhatsApp messages circulating in the area.[68] |
May 21, 2018 |
Two men |
Visalakshinagar, Vishakapatnam |
Andhra Pradesh |
1 |
1 |
20 |
|
A mob of 20 beat up two beggars, with one succombing to his injuries.[62] |
May 20, 2018 |
Bewathi Begum (female, 30), Jakir Mani, Nani |
Vishakapatnam |
Andhra Pradesh |
|
3 |
|
|
Bewathi Begum from Howrah, West Bengal and two of her associates where thrashed by a mob on suspicion of being child snatchers. In this case Bwathi was found by the police to be a thief, but innocent of child abduction allegations[68] |
May 17, 2018 |
Uttam Kumar Verma (male), Ganesh Kumar Gupta (male), Vikas Verma (25), Gautam Verma (27), elderly woman (80s) |
Nagadih |
Jharkhand |
4 |
|
2000[69] |
|
Two brothers working for the Sachh Bharat campaign and a friend were beaten to death by tribals in front of their 80 year old grandmother. Their older brother sustained injuries in the attack. Police failed to rescue them, with witnesses accusing them of standing and watching. WhatsApp rumours were blamed for the attack.[70][71] Angry villagers torched two police vehicles.[72] It was reported that the grandmother was also beaten and died later.[73] |
May 11, 2018 |
Ganesh (30s) |
Tiruvaller, Chennai |
Tamil Nadu |
1 |
|
90 |
20[74] |
A mentally-ill man who had been seen roaming the streets for several months was attacked by 90 villagers who accused him of being a child kidnapper. They broke his nose, gouged out an eye, and hung him from a bridge near Pulicat Lake.[75][76] The cause was fake videos and messages circulating via WhatsApp. |
May 10, 2018? |
1 man |
Tiruvallur, Chennai |
Tamil Nadu |
0 |
1 |
|
|
Mob attacks north indian migrant worker for speaking to children and severely beats him. He is taken to the hospital.[76] |
April 29, 2018 |
1 man (30s) |
Parasuramapatti, Gudiyatham, Vellore |
Tamil Nadu |
1 |
|
|
|
A 30 year old Hindi-speaking migrant worker is suspected of being a child-abductor and beaten to death.[75] Police commence a public awareness campaign. |
April 28, 2018 ? |
Unidentified man |
Sankranthi Palle, Chittoor |
Andhra Pradesh |
0 |
1 |
|
|
A mentally-ill man in tattered clothing was beaten by village youths until police rescued him.[77] |
April 22, 2018 |
3 teenagers |
Sumangali |
Tamil Nadu |
1 |
2 |
|
|
Three teenagers are suspected of being child traffickers and attacked by villagers. One boy is stoned to death and the other two injured. |
April 14, 2018 |
1 man (male, 45) |
Enathur, Kancheepuram |
Tamil Nadu |
1 |
|
|
|
A 45-year old man with learning disabilities is beaten to death on suspicion of being a child abductor. |
April 10, 2018 ? |
1 man |
Obanapalle village, Chittoor |
Maharasthra |
1 |
|
|
|
A mentally ill man was beaten by villagers over child-lifting suspicions and handed over the police. After being cleared by the police and released he was attacked by a mob the next day and killed.[78] In this particular case the police themselves appear to have believed the rumours and inflamed the situation by putting out posters warning of child abductors.[77] |
April 10, 2018 |
Rukmani (female, 65), Chandrasekaran (male, 34), Mohan Kumar (male, 34), Venkatesan (51), Gajendran |
Athimur, Tiruvannamalai |
Tamil Nadu |
1 |
3 |
200 |
42[79] |
65 year old Rukmani and her family was travelling from Chennai to visit the family temple when they stopped to ask a elderly lady for directions. Whilst stopping the gave chocolates to local children. The lady told the rest of the village that they must be child traffickers. A mob of 200 gathered, stripped the family and beat them,[80] killing Rukmani, critically injuring the other three and overturning their vehicle. Police were present but unable to stop the violence until an ambulance arrived.[81] Videos taken of the attack were circulated and used to identify perpetrators.[82] Claims that 52 children in the district had been abducted were circulating on WhatsApp prior to the lynching.[79] Police commence awareness campaign against fake news in the days following the attack. |
February 22, 2018 |
Chottu |
Kannavanam, Kannur |
Kerala |
0 |
1 |
|
4[83] |
When a photograph of a bus driver's child fell from his pocket, Chottu, a mentally-unstable migrant worker from Orrissa picked it up. Seeing him with the photograph locals accused him of being part of a child trafficking network and severely beat him before the police could intervene. He was taken to the hospital. Video of the attack circulated on social media.[83] |
February 3, 2018 |
Mohammed Faisal Siddique (25) |
Jaipur |
Rajasthan |
1 |
|
50 |
4 |
Mohammed Faisal, a migrant worker from Kanpur, was taking a friend's 2 year old daughter to the market to buy her chocolates when some people suspected he had kidnapped the child. He was tied to an electric pole and beaten by a mob of 50 whilst the girl was abandoned. Police rescued him and took him to the hospital where he died 16 days later. A video of the attack circulated widely on social media.[84] |
June 27, 2017 |
Otera Bibi (female, 42) |
Sekendra village,Murshidabad |
West Bengal |
1 |
|
|
|
Following the genuine disappearance of a 14-year old child from the village and the circulation of social media rumours, mentally-ill woman Otera Bibi was lynched by a mob accusing her being the child-lifter. Her clothes were stripped, she was tortured, and beaten for three hours. Police arrived but could not intervene until reinforcements arrived.[85] |
May 17, 2017 |
Sheikh Sajju (male, 25), Sheik Siraj (male, 26), Naim (male, 35), Sheikh Halim (2 |
Rajnagar |
Jharkhand |
4 |
|
|
12 |
Four men were killed by mobs on rumours of being child-thieves, but the police believe this was a pretext, and the real reason was that they were cattle-traders. 3 people were acquitted, whilst 12 persons were found guilty of killing the victims and received sentences of 4 years rigorous imprisonment and a Rs 2,000 fine each.[69] |
May 17, 2017 |
Two unidentified men |
Sosomoli village |
Jharkhand |
2 |
|
|
|
Two men beaten to death on suspicion of being child abductors.[86] |
May 17, 2017 |
Unidentified man |
Shobhapur village, Kolhan |
Jharkhand |
1 |
|
|
|
One man beaten to death on suspicion of being a child abductor.[86] |
May 12, 2017 |
2 men |
Jadugora, East Singhbhum district |
Jharkhand |
2 |
|
|
|
Two people were beaten to death and as many injured by a mob on suspicion that they were child lifters in Jadugora.[87] |