'Mobocracy' continues, man attacked in Karnataka on suspicion of child lifting

There's no end to attacking people on the suspicion of being child lifter even as the Supreme Court said that horrendous acts of 'mobocracy' cannot be allowed to overrun the law of the land.

In yet another incident in Karnataka's Mandya district, a man was beaten up by a mob on suspicion of child lifting after he stopped a school bus to meet his children.

The incident took place when the victim identified as Mahesh Babu stopped the bus to enquire if his children were inside, reported News18.com.

However, the villagers started beating him after they thought he was a child lifter. The victim was saved when cops arrived at the spot.

Babu had enquired about the children as he recently got separated from his wife and his children were staying with her.

The incident comes after a techie was lynched near Bidar in Karnataka on the suspicion of being a child-lifter. A social media video, wrongly identifying Hyderabad techie Mohammad Azam Usmansab as a child lifter, led to his lynching

On Tuesday, asserting that there cannot be any investigation, trial or punishment out on the streets, the Supreme Court said it was the duty of the states to strive and promote fraternity amongst all citizens, as such mob violence was being instigated by intolerance and misinformed by circulation of fake news and false stories.

In a strongly worded 45-page verdict, it said "rising intolerance and growing polarisation", which has led to the spate of such incidents, "cannot be permitted to become the normal way of life", as the instances of lynching and mob violence were creeping threats which may gradually take the shape of a "Typhon-like monster". 

BJP member Meenakshi Lekhi today said that the incidents of mob lynching are a result of economic disparity.