Bidar, July 15: Child-lifting rumours claimed another life. A 32-year-old software engineer, who worked with Accenture was beaten to death, while three others were injured by a mob in Karnataka’s Bidar district. Reportedly, the engineer was currently working on a project with Google.

Locals suspected them of being child lifters. Mohammed Azam Ahmed of Malakpet in Hyderabad, died on the spot, while a Qatari national, Salham Eidal Kubaisi (38), and Noor Mohammed and Mohammed Salman from Barkas in Hyderabad suffered injuries. Initially, they were admitted to the Bidar Government hospital, after that the injured were shifted to Hyderabad.

The police have arrested three WhatsApp administrators who circulated the photos and messages that the four men were child kidnappers along with 30 people who were part of the mob. Kubaisi’s wife Zaibunnisa told Indian Express that the four men had set off from Hyderabad Friday morning to meet a relative at Bidar and attend a social function and after returning they were en route to see a piece of land which they were interested in purchasing. The incident took place in Aurad taluka.

According to Indian Express’ report, the victims stopped for tea near a school at Murki village in Aurad taluka at about 4.30 pm, where Kubaisi gave foreign chocolates to children. Villagers misunderstood them as child lifters. Sensing the danger they fled from the spot, but somebody clicked their photos and spread the rumour of them being a child lifter.

According to the reports, the villagers of the next village after getting the message blocked the road. Azam, who was driving, tried to cross the blockade at a high speed but the vehicle fell in a ditch. The Mob pulled them out of the vehicle and thrashed them.

On July 1, five men were beaten to death in Maharashtra's Dhule district after locals suspected them of being child-lifters. The incident took place, due to social media-fuelled rumours that a gang of child-lifters was active in the area. Three lynching incidents were reported from Tripura in the last week of June, where locals after believed rumours on social media mistook the victims as child-lifters. On June 28, a journalist was arrested by Singrauli Police in Madhya Pradesh for allegedly spreading rumours on WhatsApp.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jul 15, 2018 10:30 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).