Rumors on WhatsApp Incite Mob to Kill Trans Woman in India

A mob of people in Hyderabad, India, killed a transgender woman and seriously injured three others because of untrue rumors posted on the messaging application WhatsApp that trans people were involved in child trafficking.

The women were begging for money in the Chandrayanagutta district of Hyderabad Saturday night when the mob attacked them, CNN reports.

"They were begging for money from some shopkeepers in Chandrayanagutta at 11 p.m. when some unruly youths started saying they had come to kidnap children," V. Satyanarayana, a deputy commissioner of police in Hyderabad, told CNN.

As many as 20 people participated in the attack, but about 200 stood by encouraging them, Satyanarayana said. CNN and other media did not include the victims' names, but Agence France-Presse said the dead woman was 52 years old. CNN reported that 12 people had been arrested as of Monday, but AFP gave the number as 35.

WhatsApp messages that claim trans women are kidnapping children have gone viral around Hyderabad, located in southern India. They often include pictures of dead children, but these images have turned out to depict casualties of the war in Syria or attacks on the Muslim minority in Myanmar.

"These mischief mongers are intentionally circulating such messages to create panic in the minds of the public," Satyanarayana told CNN.

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The day before the trans women were attacked, a nontrans man was beaten with sticks and pipes in Hyderabad, CNN reports. He survived, but in that city and neighboring areas, at least six people have been killed in attacks spurred by the rumors, according to AFP.

Hyderabad police have started a social media campaign to address the rumors, with Twitter messages saying, among other things, "It's all fake," and advising anyone who suspects a person of wrongdoing to call police and not take the law into their own hands, CNN reports. They posted public service announcements on their Facebook and Twitter feeds as well, advising social media users on how to tell if images or videos are fake.

Police also marched through Hyderabad Monday night, chanting over loudspeakers, "Don't believe the rumors," AFP reports.