Indian WhatsApp lynchings
Most of the attacks have occurred  in villages. The lynch mobs included men, women and children. In some cases the mobs were composed largely of illiterate or poorly educated men that were unemployed or working as day labourers; often,  they were under the influence of alcohol at the time of the attack. In at least some of the cases prime instigators have used child-abduction fears to stir up the violence and settle old scores.