TIRUVANNAMALAI: While fingers have been pointed at purveyors of fake news after the two deaths caused by mob violence in Tamil Nadu, Express found that word-of-mouth rumours had already laid the groundwork for fear and panic against child-lifters in Tiruvannamalai.
On Wednesday, a group of five from Chennai were allegedly assaulted by a mob in Athimoor village of Tiruvannamalai district. One of the group, a 65-year-old woman named Rukmini, was killed in the attack. The others were grievously injured. The villagers had reportedly mistaken them, for rumoured child traffickers.
As many as 67 villagers were questioned and 23 were arrested for the attack. Anakkavoor police, based on video footage, believe at least 200 people were involved in the violence and have been searching for the remaining accused. As a result, Athimoor, Thambukottanparai and Kaliyam hamlets have been virtually deserted, the menfolk having gone into hiding. Of those left behind, few are willing to speak.
When an Express team visited Athimoor, it found more than 85 per cent of houses abandoned. Nestled in the foothills of Jawadhu range in Tiruvannamalai district, Athimoor is surrounded by a verdant landscape. Villagers are mostly engaged in agriculture. Those who remain say that the village normally bustles with activity. However, since the incident on May 9, the village wears a ghostly silence.
“We live in fear as we do not know when police will come and take us for an interrogation. We were not involved in the incident. All my neighbours went to relatives’ houses. Police should only arrest villagers who were involved in the incident,” says a frightened Kanniyamma.
However, the villagers claim the fear has lurked for a while. At least for the past few months as they started hearing of child trafficking gangs that took children to sell their organs. They say they heard such rumours from neighbours or fellow workers from nearby villages. Word had spread that unknown persons were on the prowl looking for children and that villagers should be careful and cautious of any outsiders. These rumours reportedly preceded viral messages on social media. Villagers claim they specifically heard that two children had been taken from an unidentified village nearby.
“I was so worried, I sent my grand children, who had come for vacation, back to their village,” said Saroja, a resident of Thambukottanparai. Later, these rumours spread on social media, significantly through a video shot by Veeraraghavan (29), who was arrested by police on Friday. In the video he circulated, he had claimed that kids in Cheyyar, Arni and other villages were being abducted by unknown persons and he cautioned villagers to keep an eye on their wards and to not let them talk to outsiders.
Police in Tiruvannamalai and Vellore have stressed that no child missing case has been reported in these parts any time in the recent past. Nonetheless, after over a month of hearing and believing such rumours, when Rukmini offered sweets to a child near the temple she had visited, it was enough to frighten and anger the locals, leading to the assault. Baby, wife of Rajendran (40) who was detained by police claims, “While the incident was taking place at Athimoor, 3kms from our house, my husband was working in the house. However, police came on Wednesday evening after the incident and nabbed my husband.” Fear continues to reign in these parts.
Not just in Tamil Nadu...
In May 2017, similar sequence of events rolled out in Jharkhand after a viral WhatsApp message about a child-lifting gang in the tribal-dominated areas near Jamshedpur. The villagers had lynched a total of seven persons based on mere suspicion. V Suresh, National Secretary of Peoples Union of Civil Liberties, opined that the panic created by fake news in social media is only a part of the problem. “It adds to the loss of confidence and sense of frustration among the public. When there is a re-occurance of incidents, police has to create an awareness, which they failed. Public lost confidence in them (police) and started taking up law in their hand,” he said.