Fake videos of child kidnapping put North Indians in peril in Karnataka

Viral social media videos cautioning users about the purported threat of child kidnappers from North India have created a tense situation in north Karnataka districts. These have triggered suspicion against North Indians — mostly migrant workers — leading to their wanton detention and abuse by locals.

The visuals, which are widely circulating on social media, have also impacted the attendance of children in a few schools as several parents, fearing for their children’s safety, have stopped sending them to school.

The state education and police departments have started awareness programmes in several places, asking residents not to believe fake messages and alert the police control room if they are suspicious of anything instead of taking the law into their own hands.

A police source said that over the past 10 days, several cases have been reported, especially in north Karnataka districts, where locals have beaten up innocent ‘outsiders’, suspecting them to be kidnappers.

Daily wagers, vagrants bear the brunt

Recently, four toy sellers from Delhi including two women were beaten up by the public at the Gangavadi area of Vijayapura town. The incident happened under the Gandhi Chowk police station limits. Police said the language the vendors spoke and their unknown identity proved costly for them. Their hands and legs were tied up and they were beaten by the locals. They were rescued after the police intervened, checked their identity and admitted them to a nearby hospital.

Also read: Schools shut, tribal kids led into child marriage

More recently, on Monday, irate public in the Ittangihala village of Vijayapura district’s Tikota taluk tied a North Indian youth to an electric pole and beat him up, suspecting him to be a child thief. The youth was later rescued by Vijayapura rural police.

A youth from Uttar Pradesh was assaulted in a similar way in Dharwad district as locals suspected him to be a kidnapper. Police said he had come to the state in search of daily wage work.

In another incident, locals in Bagalakote district intercepted three persons who came in a four-wheeler, inquiring about the address of a few houses with children. The vehicle turned turtle after locals attacked it and the three were mercilessly thrashed until the arrival of the police.

In Vijayanagar district, a woman who seemed mentally unstable, was secured by locals and beaten up. Hosapete police reached in time to rescue her.

In Ramanagara district, locals accused seven women of being kidnappers and handed them over to the police. Police, after identifying the women, said they were mere labourers and didn’t have any criminal record.

In another incident, two sadhus from the North were caught by locals and handed over to the police in Koujalagi.  Belagavi SP Sanjiv Patil asked the public not to take the law into their hands and advised them to inform the police instead.

Several such incidents have been reported from Koppala, Belagavi, Haveri, Gadag, Dharwad, Vijayapura and Bellary, among other districts, over the past few days. There have been many cases where persons with mental disorders have been detained under the suspicion of being kidnappers and abused by locals.

School attendance comes down

The fear of kidnappers has led to a marked absence of children in schools, especially in rural parts of north Karnataka.

“Rumours about child kidnappers have created a fear among parents, discouraging many from sending their wards to school,” said an officer.

Even though officials of the Education Department are trying to sensitise parents not to believe in fake news about the kidnappings, a headmaster of a school in Boodihal in Yadgir said that parents refuse to believe officials. Instead, they are sharing videos and messages on social media to prove otherwise.

Also read: 38 tribal women, children kidnapped from Rajasthan by MP villagers

State Home Minister Araga Janendra told The Federal that he has asked his officials to spread awareness about fake messages regarding kidnappers. He has also requested the public not to believe in such rumours, not to take the law into their hands and bring any such incidents to the notice of the police.  “We have already discussed this with the concerned officials,” he said.iral social media videos cautioning users about the purported threat of child kidnappers from North India have created a tense situation in north Karnataka districts. These have triggered suspicion against North Indians — mostly migrant workers — leading to their wanton detention and abuse by locals.