By emphasising the victim’s religious identification, a sensitive video depicting a group of people beating up a biker with sticks has gone viral and is being portrayed as a hate crime based on religion.
@irtizasameen tweeted “In Shamli, UP, a Muslim youth (Rizwan) was attacked and left half dead after his bike was stopped. Rizwan had gone to Bhura village to visit relatives when some goons attacked him. -See how he is being beaten, the video is viral, @Uppolice Will you take action against these goons?” on March 30, 2024.
यूपी के शामली मे मुस्लिम युवक (रिजवान) की बाइक रोककर हमला कर अधमरा कर दिया, रिजवान रिश्तेदारी में भूरा गांव गया था, तभी कुछ दबंगों ने रिजवान पर हमला कर दिया,
— Irtiza Sameen (@irtizasameen) March 30, 2024
-देखिए किस तरह पीटा जा रहा है, वीडियो वायरल है,@Uppolice क्या इन गुंडों पर कार्रवाई करेगी? pic.twitter.com/35RPBeXTzH
Many more accounts, including @ProfAshokSwain made the same claim regarding this incident. The archive can be read from above.
Further, also many propagandists have mentioned the victim’s name, but cleverly avoided the perpetrator’s name. @HateDetectors mentioned about the victim in a twitter post. The user added “A youth named Rizwan was travelling on his bike when he was stopped, abused and attacked by a group of men in #Kandla village of #Shamli, #UttarPradesh.” and shared the video on March 31, 2024.
⚠️Trigger Warning: Disturbing Visuals.
— Hate Detector 🔍 (@HateDetectors) March 31, 2024
A youth named Rizwan was travelling on his bike when he was stopped, abused and attacked by a group of men in #Kandla village of #Shamli, #UttarPradesh.
The Viral Video shows the group of 8-10 men attacking him mercilessly untill he fell… pic.twitter.com/5JoV7yu9m0
Several other accounts, including @MuslimVoice_eng, @ItsKhan_Saba, @saNewsDaily also claimed that a boy named Rizwan was riding his bike when he was viciously attacked by a group of eight or ten men in the Shamli, Uttar Pradesh, village of Kandla. The archive can be read from above.
What is the Actual Truth About this Incident? : Fact
The incident was reported to have originated in Shamli, Uttar Pradesh. The incident had nothing to do with hate crimes based on religion, since the victim and accused were members of the same group—the Muslim community. Huzaifa, Ammar, Sohail, Shahrukh, Akram, Sufiyan, and Akram are the subjects of an active case. The suspects are being arrested via raids. We visited livehindustan.com, which published an article on this incident on March 31, 2024 with the headline “Bike rider stopped and beaten with sticks, video goes viral”. The bike riding youth was stopped by seven people, who beat him with sticks. Rizwan was returning from village Bhura towards Kairana by bike. During that time, near the vegetable market, 7 youths attacked him with sticks. During the fight, Rs 5500 was also taken away by Rizwan. Further, for more clarification, we also went to dainik, which posted about this regarding this incident with the heading “शामली में बाइक सवार को लाठी-डंडों से पीटा, VIDEO:8-10 युवकों ने किया हमला, पीटते- पीटते नीचे गिराया, खेत में खींचकर ले गए”. It added “A video of beating a young man sitting on a bike in Shamli is going viral. In the viral video, some youth are seen beating the bike rider. About 8 to 10 boys attacked the young man together with sticks. Beat him severely. At the same time, the police is talking about taking action against the youth who made the video viral by saying that it is old.”
@PoliceShamli tweeted “Regarding the viral video, it is to be informed that the above video is related to Kairana police station area. In connection with the incident, a case has been registered at Kairana police station under relevant sections. The police station in-charge of Kairana police station has been directed to take necessary legal action against the accused.” on March 30, 2024.
वायरल वीडियो के सम्बन्ध में अवगत कराना है कि उपरोक्त वीडियो थाना कैराना क्षेत्र से सम्बन्धित है । घटना के सम्बन्ध में थाना कैराना पर सुसंगत धाराओ में अभियोग पंजीकृत है । थानाध्यक्ष थाना कैराना को अभियुक्तों के विरुद्ध आवश्यक वैधानिक कार्यवाही हेतु निर्देशित किया गया है ।
— Shamli police (@PoliceShamli) March 30, 2024
D-Intent’s Fact-Checking Results:
1798
— D-Intent Data (@dintentdata) March 31, 2024
ANALYSIS: Misleading
FACT: A sensitive video that shows a group of people beating up a biker with sticks has been shared and projected as a religion-based hate crime by highlighting the religious identity of the victim. Users only mentioned the victim's name, (1/3) pic.twitter.com/zHnOyny893
Intent:
Propaganda accounts are circulating videos with false claims to set their religious propaganda. A sensitive video that shows a group of people beating up a biker with sticks has been shared and projected as a religion-based hate crime by highlighting the religious identity of the victim. Reports stated that Shamli, Uttar Pradesh was the scene of the incident. The incident was unrelated to hate crimes based on religion, as both the perpetrator and the victim were members of the same Muslim community. A complaint has been filed against Shahrukh, Huzaifa, Ammar, Sohail, Akram, Sufiyan, and Akram. To apprehend the suspects, raids are being carried out.
Conclusion:
Claim : A video depicting many individuals striking a biker with sticks has gone viral, and it has been portrayed as a hate crime driven by religion because it emphasises the victim’s religious affiliation.
Fact : According to reports, the incident was said to be from Shamli,UP. The victim and accused belonged to the same community (Muslim community), and the incident had nothing to do with religious hate crimes. A case has been registered against Huzaifa, Ammar, Sohail, Shahrukh, Akram, Sufiyan, and Akram. Raids are being conducted to arrest the accused.
