Bengaluru: Mentally ill man tied to tree, beaten over kidnapping suspicion
Bengaluru, Seept 07: High drama prevailed in Kadugodi, Whitefield, when a mentally challenged man, suspected to be child lifter, was at the receiving end of mob fury.
Police said the local residents of Patalamma Layout tied him to the tree, thrashed him and even videographed the assault.
According to the police, the incident took place on Wednesday evening, around 4.30 pm.
The 25-year-old man, hailing from Odisha, had entered one of the houses in Patalamma Layout. People mistook him to be a child lifter and soon this rumour spread throughout the locality. The residents came out in large numbers to thrash the man.
A police official said that one of the residents told people that he had received a WhatsApp message stating that a gang of child lifters had entered their area and he might be among them. The people got worked up and thrashed him. The video went viral on social media.
After getting an alert Kadugodi police rushed to the spot and took the man to the police station. After interrogation, they learnt that he is mentally disturbed and admitted to hospital.
Abdul Ahad DCP (Whitefield) said no child lifters have come to city and no such incidents were reported in the city. One has to verify whatever videos they get on WhatsApp and in social media, he added.
The police have registered an FIR against people who had assaulted the man and instructions were given to Kadugodi inspector to initiate action against them.
Despite various awareness programmes advising people not to pay heed to rumours, such mob attacks over child lifting rumours continue to happen.
On August 27, a minor boy was beaten up by a mob on suspicion that he was a child lifter and later handed over to Hennur police.
Courtesy: deccanchronicle.com
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11k litres of milk poured into Narmada river after religious event; environmentalists see red
Sehore (PTI): Around 11,000 litres of milk were poured into Narmada river, often called the lifeline of Madhya Pradesh, in Sehore district on the culmination of a 21-day religious event as part of a sanctification ritual, prompting environmentalists to flag its negative impact on the ecosystem.
The event concluded at Satdev village in Bherunda area, located about 90 km from the district headquarters, with a 'mahayagna' on Wednesday.
The milk was offered to the river as part of rituals and prayers for the purity of the waters, the well-being of pilgrims and prosperity, organisers said.
The milk was brought in tankers to the riverbank and later poured into the flowing water amid chanting of mantras in the presence of a crowd of devotees.
However, environmentalists raised concerns over the practice, warning of its potential ecological impact.
"Such large quantities of organic matter can deplete dissolved oxygen in water, adversely affecting the river ecosystem. These impact local communities dependent on the river for drinking water and threaten aquatic life as well as domestic animals," noted environmentalist and wildlife activist Ajay Dube said.
Religious offerings should be symbolic and mindful, he asserted.
Renowned environmentalist Subhash Pandey said 11,000 litres of milk acts as a significant organic pollutant.
"It is highly oxygen-demanding and can lead to oxygen depletion, aquatic mortality, eutrophication (process of plants growing on river surface) and loss of potability. These effects are predictable from dairy-effluent chemistry and have been documented in similar incidents worldwide," Pandey pointed out.
Narmada originates at Amarkantak in the state and traverses 1,312 km westward to Maharashtra and Gujarat, emptying into the Arabian Sea via the Gulf of Cambay.
It is the largest west-flowing river in the peninsula, passing through a rift valley, and acts as a crucial water source for irrigation in MP, Gujarat and Maharashtra.
