A woman was allegedly thrashed by a mob on suspicion that she was a child-lifter roaming in Cantonment area in Sagar in Madhya Pradesh, police said on Sunday.
A police officer said the woman, who is in her 40s, appears mentally disturbed.
"We received information that people were beating a woman suspecting her to be a child lifter on Saturday evening in Cantonment area in Sagar," police inspector J J Choudhary said, adding that police rescued the woman and brought her to police station.
The woman, who gave her name only as Manju, told us that she hailed from Ratlam district and didn't know how she reached Sagar district, he added.
"A case of assault has been registered and efforts are on to arrest the accused," the inspector said.
Meanwhile, Madhya Pradsh Additional Director General of Police (Intelligence), Kailash Makwana, on Sunday appealed to the people not be carried away by rumours that "Rohingya Muslims were kidnapping children".
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"Old incidents were being distorted and cooked up with fake message and being made viral on social media including WhatsApp and Facebook," Makwana said.
He said police and other authorities have been alerted across the state to keep an eye on social media and scotch rumours to avoid incidents of mob lynchings and beatings.
"Officials have been directed to educate people about such rumour-mongering," he added.