Congress today gave Rs 2.50 lakh as financial assistance to the family of a Hyderabad man, who was lynched near Bidar in Karnataka last week on the suspicion of being a child-lifter.
As per a directive of Congress president Rahul Gandhi, a party delegation led by Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC) president N Uttam Kumar Reddy met the family of Mohammad Azam here and offered the financial assistance.
"As per the directives of (Congress president) Rahul Gandhiji, we went and consoled the family of Mohammad Azam who was lynched in Bidar a few days back. On behalf of the Telangana Congress party, we gave a financial support of Rs 2.50 lakh," Reddy told PTI.
Gandhi, in a letter to Reddy, said he was deeply saddened by the tragic death of Mohammad Azam who was lynched near Bidar district in Karnataka on July 13.
A social media video, wrongly identifying Hyderabad techie Mohammad Azam Usmansab as a child lifter, led to his lynching, police had said.
"The loss of an innocent life due to rumours fuelled by social media must be condemned in the strongest manner possible," he said in the letter, released to the media here.
Gandhi said that in the run up to the general elections next year, there seems to be a sinister design to use social media "to poison our collective conscience as a society."
"The use of this medium to largely target members of minorities and other marginalised groups needs to be exposed and fought against," the Congress president said.
Gandhi has asked Reddy to take up the issue at public forums, besides extending support to the family of the deceased.
"While this unfortunate incident occurred in Karnataka, we must step up our efforts to fight against such incidents in Telangana," Gandhi said in the letter.
Reddy said his delegation has assured that the education of the child of the deceased would be taken care of.
The TPCC president demanded that strict punishment be handed out to the culprits in the tragedy. The Telangana and Karnataka governments should provide all support to the family of deceased, he said.
A letter from Gandhi was handed over to Azam's father, Reddy added.
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