GUWAHATI: A 17-year-old
schizophrenic youth was allegedly assaulted at
Daipam in
Darrang district, about 100km from here, on Sunday before being rescued by cops. The youth had mistakenly entered a stranger’s house, triggering suspicion that he was a child lifter.
“The youth had lost his way and entered a stranger’s residence thinking it was his house,” said
Darrang SP Sreejith T. “The distrust was fuelled by already-rife rumours doing rounds on social media,” he said.
As the news spread, hundreds of residents gathered in the area and started thrashing the youth till police rushed to his rescue, the SP added.
Villagers, however, claimed that a group of residents rescued the youth from the angry mob and kept him safe till police arrived. No case has been registered in this connection yet.
With social media rumours leading to such attacks, police are monitoring all online activity and have arrested more than 35 people since last month for instigating mob violence.