Rumours of ‘child lifters’ trigger mob attacks in MP

Indore: A viral video of a woman being beaten in Indore has exposed a disturbing surge in mob violence fuelled by rumours of child lifting, with innocent people being attacked across multiple districts without any evidence of abductions.The woman in the video, assaulted in the Bhanwarkuan area of Indore, was later identified as 45-year-old Rekha Devi, a mentally unstable woman missing from Meerut for over a year. After her daughter traced her through the clip, police confirmed Rekha had been questioned and released as she was not involved in any crime. She has since gone missing again.Rekha's case is part of a wider pattern of panic-driven attacks in Indore and neighbouring districts, where strangers are being publicly confronted and beaten on mere suspicion of being child abductors. Police say none of the recent incidents involved any actual kidnapping.In Ratlam district, six men returning from a temple visit were dragged out of their car and assaulted by villagers after stopping at a dhaba.In Indore's MIG area, a 34-year-old researcher was surrounded, beaten and filmed by a group of women who accused her of child lifting.In Dhar district, five itinerant workers from Rajasthan narrowly escaped after being attacked over similar rumours.Dewas police have arrested two men for spreading false messages and inciting attacks on passersby.