MUMBAI (Reuters) - Five people were beaten to death by a mob on Sunday in a fresh incident of lynching in India’s western state of Maharashtra after suspicions that they were child abductors, media reports said.

There has been a spate of incidents in India based on false messages about alleged child abductors circulating on social media that have triggered mass beatings and a number of other deaths this year. [nL4N1TR413]

Sunday’s incident took place at Rainpada village, in a tribal area, after one of the five victims tried to speak to a small girl while getting off a bus, according to media reports.

Villagers became suspicious and attacked the men with sticks and stones. They later placed them in a locked room and beat them, with all five dying from their injuries, reports said.