Check lynchings, MHA tells States

Check lynchings, MHA tells States

News:

1. Recently, the Home Ministry has asked the States and UTs to check increasing incidents of mob lynching in the country.

Important facts:

2. Mob Lynching:

• Mob Lynching means killing of someone by a mob for an alleged offence without following any principles of jurisprudence or due process of law.
• A lynching is a majority way of telling a minority population that the law cannot protect it.
• Lynching served the broad social purpose of maintaining superiority in economic, social, cultural and political sphere.

3. The incidents were fuelled by rumours of child-lifting on social media.

4. More than 20 people have been lynched in the couple of months on suspicion of child-lifting.

5. The recent incidents of lynching includes:

• Two people were lynched in Tripura on June 28 and two in Assam last month on suspicion of child-lifting.
• In Chennai, two men employed with a construction company engaged in Metro Rail work were attacked last week
• The latest incidence is the killing of five men in Maharashtra’;s Dhule district.

6. The Ministry has suggested the following safety measures in order to curb these incidents:

• The ministry has urged the States to keep a watch for early detection of rumors of child-lifting and take appropriate measures to counters them.
• The States and UTs has been asked to direct district administrators to identify vulnerable areas and conduct community outreach programmes for creating awareness and building confidence.
• Properly investigate the complaints of child abduction or kidnapping to instill confidence among the affected people.

7. Recently, the government had directed WhatsApp to immediately take steps to prevent the spread of “irresponsible and explosive messages”.

8. Responding to the directions, the U.S.-based social media platform said, fake news can be checked by the government, society and technology companies working together.