A transgender person who came to Hyderabad to earn some money during Ramzan was lynched by a mob after he was mistaken to be a child lifter. The 52-year old transgender died after being thrashed by a mob of 500 locals on Saturday night under Chandrayanagutta police limit.
“A transgender, who was beaten by a mob over rumours of a child-lifting gang on WhatsApp, succumbed to injuries yesterday (Sunday). 15 people were arrested,” said Anjani Kumar, Commissioner of Police. Chandrayangutta inspector, Prakash Reddy, said on Monday, “Chandraiah, a native of Mahabubnagar district, who was among the injured people, died undergoing treatment in the early hours of today. Based on video footage of the incident around 35 persons have been taken into custody.”
A statement from CP Hyderabad read, “These days social media platforms like Whatsapp, Facebook and Twitter are being used to spread fake news. All such messages are only rumours. If someone sends such news please do not share with anyone and validate with the police. If anyone finds suspicions, tell the police by dialling 100 or inform through Hawkeye, Facebook and Whatsapp. Do not take the law into your own hands. We will take serious legal action against you. Please do not believe in rumours, do not campaign and do not force the innocents.” The Hyderabad Police, in a statement on Twitter, has also urged citizens to not believe fake viral messages on social media and urged them to contact the Police in case they have suspicions regarding an individual instead of taking law into their own hands.
— hyderabadpolice (@hydcitypolice) May 27, 2018
A police officer claimed that the mob did not spare even the police and one constable suffered minor injuries while a patrolling vehicle was damaged. “We immediately rushed to the spot to control the mob and rescue the victims. However, the enraged men started attacking the police with stones,” said the police officer.
On Saturday, the Pahadishareef Police had arrested 8 people, including 6 women, for spreading a video which depicted the murder of an individual. The viral clip asked people to stay on alert ad gangs from Tamil Nadu and Sri Lanka was on the hunt. Pahadishareef Inspector, P Laxmikanth Reddy, said, “We were able to catch eight people including six women for spreading the false video that created panic among the public. We are now finding the person who added an audio note to the video that the incident of lynching happened in Pahadishareef.”
Two other people, including a transgender, were also injured by the mob. The Police have registered a case under section 147 (Punishment for rioting), 148 (Rioting, armed with deadly weapon), 302 (murder) and 307 (Attempt to murder) of the IPC.
