Three persons have been arrested for the assault so far (Source: Express Photo) Three persons have been arrested for the assault so far (Source: Express Photo)

Two men were grievously assaulted by a mob in Malappuram, Kerala after a school student alleged that they attempted to kidnap him. Later, after the police intervened, it was found that the boy, who studies in class 9, had cooked up the ‘kidnapping’ story to skip school that day.

An officer at the Vazhakkad police station told indianexpress.com that a class 9 student on Monday told locals in Omanoor town that two men, in a car, had attempted to kidnap him. When visuals from a nearby CCTV camera of a shop were perused, the boy pointed at a car and claimed that the men in the car had tried to abduct him, the officer said.

The police, after being informed of the incident, directed the men in the car to appear at the police station. But on the way to the station, the men were waylaid by unidentified locals of the town who proceeded to assault them. The men, Safarullah (29) and C. Rahmathali (32), had to be admitted to a private hospital for the injuries they sustained.

“When we later questioned the boy, he confessed that he had made up the kidnapping story to avoid going to school. He apparently was scared of failing in an examination and didn’t want to go to school,” the officer said.

While attempt to murder charges have been filed against 40 unidentified men in the mob, three people have been arrested so far. A special team has been constituted to probe the matter and arrest all those who were involved in assaulting the two men.

“The manner in which a mob takes the law into its hands after getting information about a particular incident is wrong. And social media plays an important role in this. There is a tendency among young men to believe information on social media and then take hasty decisions,” U Abdul Karim, Malappuram SP, told reporters.

The police said they are working round-the-clock to dispel rumours of child kidnapping and avoid such rumours escalating into mob violence.

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