How WhatsApp helped turn an Indian village into a lynching

A 32-year-old Indian software engineer became the latest victim of a wave of mafia lynchings, allegedly spurred by rumors of widespread kidnappings on WhatsApp. BBC Telugu's Deepthi Bathini tells how the attack unfolded.

"They kept beating us, demanding to know how many children we had kidnapped," says Mohammad Salman, still in shock, his body bruised and his face bruised with scars

July 13, Mr. Salman, 22, and his two friends were brutally beaten by a mob that suspected them of kidnapping children. The last thing he remembers is that his friend, Mohammad Azam, was dragged with a noose around his neck. Mr. Azam died of his injuries.

The three men were visiting relatives in Handikera, a small village surrounded by lush fields in the state of Karnataka, in the south of the country. They lived in Hyderabad, the capital of the neighboring state of Telangana. They drove to the village with two other friends to spend the weekend there

• But in the hours that followed their arrival, all five were kidnappers and attacked by angry villagers. The idyllic weekend soon became deadly. The police have since arrested 22 people, including the director of a WhatsApp group. They said that they also deleted 20 Whatsapp groups as a precautionary measure.

  "We obtained videos recorded by eyewitnesses and we looked at them frame by frame, we started analyzing the videos to determine who was attacking and defending, if we find others, we would also stop ". a senior police officer.

  At least 17 others were reportedly killed in India as a result of rumors of child abductions since April 2018. In all of these cases, according to the police, rumors spread via messages about WhatsApp.

  Investigations into these incidents showed that people often sent fake messages or videos that were trafficked to large groups, some with more than 100 participants. And violent crowds gathered quickly and attacked strangers, leaving the police with little time to respond.

  That seems to be what happened to Handikera too.

  million. Salman says that they were heading to the lake on the outskirts of the village when they saw a group of children coming home from school. He said that one of his friends was wearing chocolates and decided to give them to the kids. But as the car was driving fast, he threw the chocolates out the window.

  million. Salman says that they never stopped and they kept driving until they reached the lake. They laid out foldable chairs and sat down to relax.

  "Before we realized what was happening, the villagers gathered and started to accuse us of being kidnappers," recalls Mohammad Afroz, who was also part of from Mr. Salman's group.

  It is not known why the villagers suspected them of being kidnappers.

  "We tried to reason with them but it was useless: they started throwing stones at the car and beating my friends."

  million. Afroz telephoned his uncle Mohammad Yakub who rushed there. do not listen to it either.

  The police then found a video of the altercation on the phone of a man who was part of the crowd. He shared the video on a WhatsApp group with 200 members. When Mr. Salman, Mr. Azam and a third friend, Salham Ali, managed to escape in the car, the villagers in the crowd realized that they were heading to the nearby village, Murki.

  According to the police, someone in the crowd called a friend to Murki and told him to pay attention to a red car with kidnappers.

  million. Afroz and the fifth man, Noor Mohammad, were left behind the lake but escaped because the crowd followed the car.

  "We thought the question was resolved and we would meet the others soon," says Afroz. "But in five minutes, I received a call saying that their car had fallen into a ditch in Mukri."

  million. Salman said the Murki villagers had blocked the road with logs and that they were driving so fast that the car was overturned. when they tried to deviate.

  "They started pounding the car with rocks and breaking windows with sticks and stones, I was dragged out and beaten violently," he says

  "They were hitting us with knives, sickles and sticks in the crowd. "

  A video that the police obtained from eyewitnesses shows a loud and angry mob surrounding the overturned car. A helpless policeman can be seen begging the crowd to leave men alone

  million. Salman adds that he and his friend, Mr. Ali, survived because the police hid them in the trunk of the car to protect them. But they could not save Mr. Azam. Mr. Salman says some villagers also tried to help but the crowd was too big to be controlled.

  According to some estimates, it was made up of hundreds of people.

  "I think there were about 1,000 people," says Vijay Patil, an eyewitness who owns a tea stand in Murki.

  "We have all received the video on the band," he says, adding that he had left the band that night after seeing what a "single video on WhatsApp had done."

  million. Salman says that the crowd did not disperse for more than an hour, until five police vehicles came in as reinforcements. By that time, the crowd had wounded eight officers who had tried to stop them.

  Mallikarjun, a policeman who did not want to reveal his family name, fractured several bones in his leg that night. He says that he has not been able to sleep since.

  "I wake up scared," he says. "The faces of the three men inside the car, complaining for their lives, with their hands clasped and their faces bleeding, continue to blink in my head."

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  The district administration says it has run awareness programs in the villages after the last lynchings. "Even after all our efforts, this incident is very unfortunate," said one official involved in the campaign.

  The village seems shaken by the incident. Murki has a population of 5000 and is generally calm. Police say they were not equipped to face such a large and violent crowd. Usually they deal with domestic quarrels, property disputes or the strange row of drunks.

  "Everyone is shocked and half the villagers fled fearing to be arrested," says Rajendar Patil, a village elder

  "We thought the rumors might be true." to have kidnapped children, "says the brother of one of the defendants, expressing himself under the guise of anonymity.

  "But now we read about who they were, and we feel very badly."

  Additional reportage of Balla Satish