Sad, but not surprising considering the credulity of people in general. Just look at the stuff some people post on Facebook with no reservations about their accuracy.http://news.yahoo.com/facebook-post-leads-witch-hunt-tragedy-brazil-113332389.html
And the cruelty of the crowd is like that of the people who cheered the painful execution in Texas recently. Or the mob that beat Steve Utash nearly to death after a boy ran in front of his car and he stopped to help.
By By Benjamin Radford, Live Science Bad Science Columnist
May 13, 2014
A woman suspected of being a witch was beaten by a mob and died last week in Guarujá, Brazil, near the country's largest city, São Paulo. The attack was prompted by suspicions the woman was involved in a kidnapping in the area, following a Facebook post by a local news outlet, according to a report from Folha de São Paulo, the country's largest newspaper.
"Housewife Fabiane Maria de Jesus, 33, died last Monday (May 5) after being beaten by a group of people from Guarujá two days before," the report said. "The lynching ... was motivated by suspicion that Fabiane was connected to child abductions in the region thought to be linked to black magic rituals. According to Military Police, however, there is no indication that she had committed such a crime."
A video of the brutal attack shows a crowd gathered around the bound and unconscious woman. An attacker grabs de Jesus by her hair and slams her head into the ground. Then, another person on a bicycle ties one of her hands with a rope and drags her as the crowd cheers and throws trash at the dying woman. Police are investigating, and several people have been arrested in connection with the incident.
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When wild rumors are given credence through social media and are accepted without question or evidence, the results can be tragic — something to keep in mind the next time you share, like or tweet a sensational news item warning of a threat.
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