I love kids. I am fond of children so much so that I am most likely to offer a candy or a chocolate (if I have any) or just a smile to a little kid passing by just because I love to see the baby smile. I am most likely to start playing with a random kid in a market, at a mall, around my locality or in a park. The last thing I could think about would be people believing I could be a child lifter. That thought scares me to the core. It makes me wonder if I should just step back and stop being so affectionate towards the little ones.

Why? People are being lynched all over for offering goodies or simply a smile to little kids because people have been believing rumours of such people being child lifters. There have been over 30 such deaths over the past two months where people have been beaten to death on suspicion of being child lifters. Why? Simply because they were being warm to kids and probably offering them sweets.

The latest victim is 32-year-old Hyderabad techie Mohammad Azam, who was lynched in Karnataka’s Bidar after he and his friends offered chocolates to some school kids. When they were offering chocolates to the children, someone took their photographs and circulated them over a WhatsApp group, terming them as child lifters. Soon enough, they were all beaten up by a mob of over 200 people and Azam died on the spot.

This is the recent case in a series of such killings based on mere suspicion. The victims were friendly to the kids.  It turns out, that it was their very fondness and the kindness for the children that killed them. It is scary to think that you will be killed for offering chocolates to little kids. Of course, we teach kids to not take sweets or anything from strangers. Turns out we also need to warn ourselves against offering kids sweets. But how about a handshake? Probably stay away from that too. Does this mean you just need to stop being so warm and mind your own business? It seems it does.

I always thought playing with random kids at a park or on a walk was the best stress buster. Offering them sweets and see them smile would just calm your senses. Now, it appears, such an act would end up giving you more stress than ever. It's sad to imagine just passing by a kid who may be seeking your attention but you would choose to ignore, because, hell, you've got to save yourself from being seen as a child lifter and getting lynched!

It's high time some action is taken to stop these rumours and these killings. Till the time these are brought under control, turns out, we need to stop being friendly with random children on the streets. No more smiling at kids in the local, no more waving at kids at the mall, no more looking at kids. Note to self - Beware!

(The opinions expressed in the above article are of the author and do not reflect the stand or position of LatestLY.) 

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jul 16, 2018 11:57 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).