In these days of wild rumours, a bizarre 'news' kept thousands of people, especially kids, in Hyderabad awake on Wednesday night. Word spread that a newborn child had spoken to its parents warning them that anyone who fell asleep would die.
The buzz, which began after 11 pm mainly spread through phone calls and by word of mouth. Not many SMSes were sent out, thanks to the ban on bulk SMSes.
Ultimately, the police had to intervene and inform people that the rumour was baseless even as residents of Talabkatta, Yakutpura, Shaheennagar, Santoshnagar etc. spent the night with their children outside their houses.
Initially the rumour was that a divine baby born in Shaheen Nagar, beyond Barkas, had spoken to its parents that anyone who slept at night would die, even if they were children. Later, it was said that the baby was born in Pahadishareef area.
Go and sleep, said cops
Apparently the divine baby was born with several legs and hands and it had also said that 'doomsday was nearing'.
Police patrolled parts of Hyderabad throughout the night and tried to persuade people to go inside and get some sleep. And though the cops kept announcing on megaphones that it was a baseless rumour, the people kept up their vigil almost till morning.
Parents kept their children awake by sending them outside the house and making them watch the local TV channels to know the latest on the rumour.
“My neighbour told me about a divine baby who was born in Shaheen Nagar area and it’s a prophesy; we got scared and with my children, I spent the whole night outside my house,” said Aleem from Yakutpura.
As the rumour spread, Deputy Commissioner of Police, South Zone, Akun Sabharwal even went live on TV and requested people not to believe in the rumours and said that whoever had spread them would be traced soon.
“We don’t have any clue about a ‘divine baby.’ It is a baseless rumour. However, we are trying to track the origin of the rumour and find who is behind it,” said Sabharwal.