How a kidnapping rumor left women in India’s Hyderabad concerned and confused

On Wednesday, July 24, 28-year-old Manasa Gorthy, a private sector employee, reached the Tarnaka Metro Station in Hyderabad, the capital of the southern Indian state of Telangana, for her examination. As she got off the train, she immediately shared her location with one of her friends. She was worried, but it was not just the examination that was occupying her thoughts. 

A day ago, Gorthy had read about the “attempted kidnapping” of a young student from the same station. The message, which was viral on several social media platforms and apps like WhatsApp, triggered panic among commuters and residents in the nearby areas of Habsiguda, Mettuguda, Nacharam, and NGRI (National Geophysical Research Institute).

Map showing the areas mentioned in the viral message. (Source: Hyderabad Metro Rail/Modified by Logically Facts)

Alerting the locals, the message read, “Three days ago, a school girl was kidnapped from Tarnaka Metro Station when she was going from the station to her college. However, the authorities were informed in time and she was rescued. Had there been a delay, she would have been trafficked to another country. (Translated from Telugu)”

The message doing the rounds on social media and instant messaging platforms. (Source: Logically Facts)

Gorthy was one of the many who saw this message. 

“I was thinking about the girl’s trauma before she was rescued,” said the 28-year-old, expressing concern for her own safety. “My house is on the other side of the city and I came here for my examination. While I have shared my location with a friend for safety, I am really afraid. I don’t know how true it [the message] is, but it is dangerous.”

This isn’t the first instance of kidnapping rumors circulating on WhatsApp in India. In the summer of 2018, the nation was gripped by violent incidents of panicked residents thrashing people to death over suspicions that they were “child kidnappers”. 

Once again, despite no evidence and multiple clarifications from the police, the message was shared widely on the internet. Some of the posts can be found here and here.

Screenshots of the posts circulated on social media platforms (Source: X/WhatsApp/Reddit)

23-year-old Nikhita Deshpande, an intern at a private hospital in Secunderabad, also saw this message being shared by many of her friends and acquaintances on Instagram. 

Though skeptical at first, she said that the message made her suspicious of her surroundings. “On Sunday, I was waiting for the metro at Mettuguda station. I felt two men staring at me, making me panic a little. I wondered if they were kidnappers. I realized later that they were only standing around looking for a route map and were thinking of approaching me to ask the way, but since I turned away hurriedly, they asked someone else. The viral message planted these doubts in my head.”

Deshpande’s 40-year-old aunt, Suhasini Deshpande, is more worried about her 14-year-old daughter, who goes to school in Habsiguda, one of the places named in the message, by a private van.

“I used to ask her to travel by the metro, but now I am scared to do that. After I saw this message, I told her to avoid traveling alone and always be in a group with her friend. I have asked her to be wary of her surroundings, avoid going to isolated places, and take a different route to reach home every day,” Suhasini said, adding that sometimes even more police deployment scares her, as for her, it means that these messages have some truth to them.

In 2022, Telangana recorded the highest number of human trafficking cases at 391 for the third time in a row, according to the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB). The data also shows that 704 victims, including 63 minors, were trafficked, and the same number of victims were rescued that year. 

Actual instances coupled with these unverified forwards add to the fear and further alienate and demoralize women. Kondaveeti China Satyavati, women's rights activist and secretary of Bhoomika Women’s Collective, a Hyderabad-based organization that works on violence against women, said, “It's not that there are no such crimes in the society. There is no dearth of it, but if such messages start circulating by targeting an area, the effect is much more intense on the residents in those localities.”

“The men in the house might start asking them [women] to stay at home to be safe. They might ask them about the necessity and urgency of stepping out by stating that 'days are bad' and 'what if something happens’. These kinds of narratives would come up,” she added. 

Calling these forwards “a hindrance to women's public movement,” she recommended forwarding them to the concerned authorities so that necessary action can be taken. 

Sandhya, the Progressive Organisation for Women's national convenor, too, spoke about making women feel safe so they can navigate public spaces more confidently. 

“Women should be made confident by adding enhanced security features, like CCTV cameras that are constantly monitored. Proper precautions need to be taken so women have more confidence in the system. But mainly, the police need to take action in curbing such fake news, as it affects women and their mobility,” she said.

Research has also shown that questioning the source of such information and determining its origin could potentially aid the spread of accurate information and fight misinformation. 

So, where and how did this rumor start?

A whisper down the lane

The viral forward left the police officials at the Osmania University Police Station—Tarnaka falls under their jurisdiction—in Hyderabad baffled. While there was word of a timely ‘rescue,’ the police had not heard of any such case. 

Venkat Rao, Inspector at Telangana Women Safety Wing, was tasked with finding the facts behind the rumor. “We have called all the inspectors of areas mentioned in the viral message to find out if there was any such incident. We were told no such forceful abduction happened.” 

Rao, however, believed that another unrelated incident of a minor school student’s alleged elopement had been fictionalized to create this forward. Inspector Nenavath Rajender, who was investigating the other case, told us it was unrelated to the Tarnaka Metro Station.   

However, as the rumor circulated, the police issued an advisory. 

“Raising awareness about crimes is crucial and demonstrates responsible citizenship. However, it is essential to verify facts before sharing information to avoid causing unnecessary panic," read the statement (archive here) from the Women Safety Wing of Telangana.

Screenshots of the posts from Telangana Women Safety Wing’s Instagram account. (Source: Instagram)

Following this clarification, several local news outlets like Siasat, Telangana Today have also clarified that it's a fake message. The Telangana Women Safety Wing is still investigating the origins of the rumor and the motive behind it.

(Edited by Sanyukta Dharmadhikari and Kritika Goel)