You're listening to the inquiry on the BBC World Service with me

Helena Merriman each week one question, hands tied in front of him, his feet

bound behind.

Dozens of people surround him, beating him with sticks, accusing him of being a child

kidnapper. Soon the police arrive and break things up. By the time they get him

to hospital, he's dead.

But Kahlu was no kidnapper, just a laborer from out of town who'd come to the city for work.

They'd killed an innocent man. In their defense,

his attacker said they were acting on information spread on the social messaging

service, WhatsApp. They'd all received messages telling them that child kidnappers had come to Bangalore,

and they should be on the lookout.

Kahlu, an outsider, looked suspicious to them,

and that's why they went after him.

That was May this year.

Since then there have been dozens of other murders in India all following rumors spread on what's app. So in this

week's inquiry we want to know is what's app fueling vigilantism. autism.

Part one, the gossip monger.

I was very accurate on social media and I used to debunk misinformation in my own way on through through Facebook pages and my personal Facebook profile, But it had very limited impact,

and that is when I decided that, you know,

this is something that needs to be done in a more organized

and more elaborate manner.

Our first expert witness, software engineer, Pretique Sinhau.

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