Jamshedpur: A total of 10 police station areas located in the adjoining districts of East Singhbhum and Seraikela-Kharsawan of Kolhan division have reported 13 cases of crowd holding unknown persons hostage or thrashing them on suspicion of child lifting between February 14 and 26. Activists urged the administrative officials concerned to intensify awareness drives to sensitise public on the issue.A middle-aged woman was assaulted by brick kiln workers at Kolabira village under the Gamharia police station limits in Seraikela on Wednesday. Local police reached the spot and rescued the woman.In another incident, a crowd suspecting a woman of child lifting allegedly held her in illegal custody and questioned her at Mahanand Basti of Dimna Chowk under the MGM police station limits last Wednesday.A mob assaulted a mentally unstable woman on suspicion of being a child lifter at Dokakuli village under the Kandra police station limits in Seraikela-Kharsawan on Wednesday. The police rescued the woman and brought her to the police station.Identified as Duri, the woman is a resident of Shardabera village under the same thana limits. She often loiters in public to escape from her abusive brother. She returns home when her brother goes out for work in the evening, police learnt during investigation. “People should not turn violent on hearsay,” said Vinod Murmu, the officer in-charge of the Kandra police station.In another case, the Sonua police rescued a mentally deranged woman from a mob when she was about to be thrashed on suspicion of child lifting at Kochapur village of West Singhbhum. “The woman is a resident of Pindrajoda police station limits in Bokaro,” Shashibala Bhengra, the officer in-charge of the Sonua police station said.Meanwhile, six workers of a brick kiln furnace were rounded up at Bidra village under the Patamda police station limits and roughed up by the villagers on February 24. The workers were natives of Chhattisgarh and strolling in the village on their off day. The villagers got skeptical of them as they were speaking a language unfamiliar to the locals, Bidra panchayat deputy head Karn Mahato said.Police in both the districts warned rumour mongers that penal action would be taken against the guilty. “Call 100/112 or alert the local police is you are suspicious of any body. Strict action will be taken if anyone resorts to assault, based on suspicion,” said Sanjiv Kumar Singh, the officer in-charge of the RIT police station.Officer in-charge of the Dhalbhumgarh police station Dhiraj Kumar said, “Panchayat representatives have been asked to inform villagers about the consequences of taking law into own hands.”Jharkhand Human Rights Conference (JHRC) president Manoj Mishra said, “Generating awareness among the masses and swift police action will address the burning issue of mob thrashing linked to child theft rumour. Our organisation will hold awareness sessions in villages and appeal to the people not to get instigated on mere hearsay. If there’s any suspicion on an unknown person and outsider, alert the police.”Social worker Indrajeet Singh said that public awareness on digital and social media and regular monitoring of social network platforms will help to curb the problem.
