New Delhi, July 3: The Supreme Court on Tuesday put the onus on states over multiple lynching incidents that have been reported from different parts of the country. Over 20 people have been lynched in different parts of India in the past one month over social media rumours of child lifting. The apex court today warned states that such incidents must not recur.

During hearing in the court today, senior advocate Indira Jaisingh said, "Five people were lynched in Maharashtra for fear that they were child abductors; it has gone beyond cow vigilantism."

Five people were lynched by villagers in Maharashtra’s Dhule district on suspicion of being child-lifters on Saturday. “Five outsiders were murdered by villagers on suspicion of child kidnapping in Rainpada village of Pimpalner Police station limits,” said Dhule Superintendent of Police M Ramkumar. The police have arrested 23 people so far over the lynching.

However, this is not the first case. There have been multiple such cases reported from Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Tripura, Assam and other states over the past one month. The police have asked people to not believe in WhatsApp rumours.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jul 03, 2018 01:11 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).