Panic-driven violence is escalating in Jharkhand, where baseless child abduction rumors have led to over a dozen mob assaults on innocent bystanders in just five days. From urban centers to rural pockets, the state is witnessing a dangerous trend of crowd justice gone awry.
Thursday’s incident in Ranchi highlighted the peril. In Edlhatu, locals spotted two women and a man in an auto with a distressed child and immediately raised kidnapping alarms. The rumor ignited fury: the crowd halted the auto, hauled out the passengers, and launched a savage beating.
Bariatu police arrived swiftly, dispersing the mob and securing the trio. No confirmed kidnapping attempt has surfaced from investigations so far, raising questions about the child’s actual connection to the accused.
The pattern repeats statewide. WhatsApp forwards claiming active child theft gangs have fueled attacks in Dhanbad, where two women were targeted Wednesday; Chatra, site of a fatal lynching of a deranged man; Bokaro, where six women endured mob wrath on February 16; and other districts like Jamshedpur, Jamtara, Giridih, Ramgarh, Latehar.
In Piprawar, Chatra, the tragedy peaked when a suspected thief turned out to be a harmless mentally ill individual, beaten to death by the baying crowd. Police across Jharkhand are now on high alert, pleading with the public to shun rumors and dial emergency lines instead.
Experts warn that social media’s role in amplifying unverified claims is catastrophic. As Jharkhand grapples with this crisis, restoring public trust in law enforcement while curbing digital misinformation remains paramount to averting more needless deaths.