neighbourhood. On 24 January, a woman in Sorong was accused of kidnapping a child. The police wanted to question her and escorted her to a police office, but were confronted by an angry mob who burned her to death during a riot. Rumours were spread through WhatsApp chain messages about a supposed child kidnapping case in Pontianak, coupled with a viral video of a supposedly kidnapped student from Jl. Ampera. This later was clarified to be false after authorities verified it to schools around the area. On 3 February 2023, in Surabaya, a man with mental illness who was giving out candy to children was accused of being a kidnapper by the children, and later beaten by angry mobs. A similar rumour was spread in Sampang, a school student claimed she was almost kidnapped in a video, but this was later disproven. On 7 February, five traders who were travelling from Jambi to Lubuklinggau stopped on North Musi Rawas Regency, where they were accused to have kidnapped a child by a woman who later reported them to her relatives and the head of her village. The head of the village made several announcements warning residents about the presence of a child kidnapper in the area through WhatsApp, which devolved into vigilante action against the traders. In early February, a man was arrested by police for sharing false rumours about a child abduction in Minahasa Regency using an old video of police chasing a motorcycle thief. Similar rumour was also dismissed by local police as "false" in Palu, Central Sulawesi. Several pamphlets were found scattered around Samarinda, East Kalimantan with messages warning about child kidnapping together with several photos of supposed-preparators. The information within the pamphlets were unverified and later removed by police on 2 February. Traders in a market in Kupang, East Nusa Tenggara complained about the widespread rumour of child kidnapping around the city to the regional police chief, which was assured by the police as "only rumours". The police also clarified in 1 February 2023, there was no report of child kidnapping case in the city since early 2022. On 23 February 2023, a rumour of child kidnapping in Wamena, Highland Papua, triggered a deadly riot resulting in 10 rioters dead, mostly killed by police; and two traders accused of kidnapping were also killed. See also 1998 Banyuwangi massacre References January 2023 events in Indonesia Scares Kidnappings in