Published May 10, 2025 | 1:34 PM ⚊ Updated May 10, 2025 | 1:34 PM
An explanation offered by an Instagram user after deleting the 'alarming' post.
Synopsis: An X user heard a scream from a moving car, which made him believe that a woman was being gang-raped. He shot a video and put it up on social media, forcing the police to scramble. Relief came when one of the occupants of the ‘suspicious’ car meekly explained, “It was me…”
A speeding grey car, a girl’s midnight scream, and a viral social media alert about a gang rape: what sounded like the plot of a crime thriller had the Kottayam police on edge through Friday, 9 May, night.
However, it was just a case of some overenthusiastic tickling among friends, a misheard scream, and the unchecked wildfire of social media disinformation.
The drama unfolded when an anonymous handle on X (formerly Twitter) named @isaw86681 claimed to have witnessed a “gang rape inside a grey Alto/Celerio type car” around 3 am in Kottayam.
The post read, “Heard her screaming for help as they drove away.” It went on to allege police inaction even after being informed.
As expected, the post spread like wildfire, jumping platforms to Facebook and Instagram, leaving a trail of concern, outrage, and phone calls.
The initial tweet.
Media outlets started chasing details, and the police scrambled to trace the car.
When reporters tried to reach out to the X user for more information, they got a cold brush-off: “Find the place and car yourselves.”
Kottayam District Police Chief Shahul Hameed A, IPS, deployed his officers to crack the case.
What followed was hours of frantic sleuthing, CCTV checks, route tracing, and online monitoring — finally culminating at 2 am on Saturday when the police uncovered the truth.
And what a truth it was!
Turns out, it was a group of young men goofing around inside a car on their way back from a popular hangout spot.
One of them got aggressively tickled and let out a scream that, to an unassuming passerby (or a social media vigilante), apparently sounded like a woman’s desperate cry for help.
A group of boys tickling one of their friends inside a car.
One of the boys, after seeing the viral tweet and realising the situation had escalated beyond their control, finally responded to a social media user and confessed to the harmless prank.
“Brother, that’s me… as I screamed, I think someone misunderstood it as a girl’s voice,” he admitted in a chat message to an inquirer.
The X account vanished soon after, and even those who had shared the post on Instagram began issuing clarifications.
One user deleted the video and wrote, “As few followers messaged me saying it was them in the video… it was just some fun, and the noises were theirs on their way back home.”
Police Chief Shahul Hameed later remarked, “This nuisance of fake news took my team hours to unravel. We finally wound it up at 2 am.”
This incident once again spotlights the menace of disinformation on social media — how a single unchecked post can mobilise police resources, alarm citizens, and spark public outrage, all based on a misunderstanding.
While this one ended with a humorous twist, authorities warn against the perils of mindless forwarding and blind belief in anonymous online claims.
The Kottayam police are now considering initiating action against the original poster for creating public mischief and spreading panic.
(Edited by Majnu Babu).
