A transgender man in India was wrongly beaten to death after a series of fake messages claiming he was part of a human trafficking ring went viral.
On Saturday (26 May), Chandraiah , 52, a native of Mahboobnagar district, headed to Hyderabad to earn some money during the holy month of Ramzan.
The beggar and his transgender son Ravi, 25, and male friend Narasimha, were attacked at around 11.45pm near the city’s Naseeb Nagar district.
Police said the trio were begging for money in and around hotels in the area.
But as Indian media reports, the men were wrongly accused of coming “to kidnap children” through a series of social media posts
Transgender man wrongly accused of child kidnapping
(Picture: Pexels)
Chandrayangutta Police Inspector Prakash Reddy spoke to The Times of India
He said: “There have been some WhatsApp messages doing round, rumours about burglars, kidnappers and transgenders.
“One of the locals raised alarm saying the duo has come to kidnap children,” he continued.
According to reports, people who had read the false warnings began converging and arguing with the three victims.
The newspaper states that a mob of around 500 people begun attacking the trio.
Mob pelted police with stones
Narasimha, who tried to rescue the two transgender males, suffered serious injuries.
When police tried to rescue them, the mob began pelting them with stones.
All three victims were moved to Osmania General Hospital for treatment.
Chandraiah died at around 3am on Sunday (27 May). The other two injured parties are said to be still undergoing treatment in hospital.
Hyderabad police: “Do not take the law into your own hands”
Meanwhile, a few days previous another person was lynched by locals in Bibinagar following rumours on social media.
Hyderabad Police have since appealed to citizens to not take the law into their own hands.
