On Friday, 13 July, Mohammed Azam Ahmed, a Hyderabad techie, was allegedly thrashed to death by a mob. The lynching was triggered by WhatsApp rumours.
A new video of the incident reveals gory details of the lynching. In the video, the 32-year-old techie can be seen being dragged face down with a rope tied to one hand.
The police can also be seen attempting to reason with and stop the murderous mob, although in vain.
The incident took place when Ahmed, a software engineer, was travelling to Handikera village in Aurad taluk with three of his friends. At around 4.30 pm, the four of them stopped for tea and it was there that one of the four men offered chocolates to some school children. That was enough for the bystanders to assume they were child kidnappers.
Sensing trouble, the four men attempted to escape in their car. However, the locals clicked pictures of them and alerted people in the adjacent village via WhatsApp.
Those in the adjacent village blocked the road with a tree, and as the four men attempted to manoeuvre their vehicle around the tree, it ended up falling into a ditch. The mob then caught hold of them and thrashed them. Ahmed was killed in the attack.
According to an NDTV report, 28 people have been arrested for the murder. These include 22-year-old Amar Patil who transmitted the message, and Manoj Kumar Biarader the admin of a WhatsApp group called ‘Murki mother’.
(With inputs from NDTV.)
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