Bengaluru, Sept 7: A mentally challenged youth was tied to a tree and beaten up by an unruly mob that mistook him for a child-lifter at Patalamma Layout near Kadugodi in East Bengaluru last evening.

As the 25-year-old youth from Odisha entered a house in Patalamma Layout around 4.30 pm, residents came out of the house screaming. Passerby and neighbours caught him and tied him to a tree.
Meanwhile, one of the residents told them that he had received a WhatsApp message saying that four child lifters had entered their area and that he suspected him to be one of them. Taking his word, the mob thrashed him and some of them even shot the act, with the video going viral.
Onlookers refused to help him while he was being attacked. Some whipped out their cellphones to take videos.
The Kadugodi police rushed to the spot after the alert. They took him to the police station and after interrogation, they learnt that he was mentally disturbed and admitted him to a hospital. The police arrested one of the attackers, Rajesh, 30, and efforts are on to track down the others.
The incident is similar to a spate of attacks that unfolded in May in Bengaluru and surrounding areas after messages and videos warning people about child-trafficking gangs on the prowl went viral on social media. At the time, the police arrested 14 people, including four women, for allegedly lynching a 26-year-old construction labourer.
Abdul Ahad DCP (Whitefield) said no child lifters were reported in the city. He cautioned people about fake posts on WhatsApp and other social media sites.



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