A video showing a group of young people beating a man with sticks is making the rounds on social media. The video is posted with the false assertion that the victim was beaten up because of his identity or religion.
@S44345240 tweeted “This gives me more and more reasons not to visit India ever. India is beyond repair now.” and shared the video of the incident on Jan 18, 2023. The tweet has received an about 270.7k views on X.
This gives me more and more reasons not to visit India ever. India is beyond repair now. https://t.co/5DC4HMhjWV
— Shirin Khan (@ShirinKhan0) January 18, 2023
Several other accounts, including @ashoswai, @HindutvaWatchIn, @doamuslims, @RGVzoomin, @KashifKakvi made the same claim that in Khandwa, Madhya Pradesh, a Muslim student faced severe attacks from a Hindutva mob after striking up a conversation with a Hindu girl classmate. The archive can be read from above.
The same video once again got resurfaced during March 2024. @stairwayto3dom tweeted “YOUNG MAN BRUTALLY ATTACKED BY HINDUS IN INDIA FOR BEING MUSLIM” on March 16, 2024.
YOUNG MAN BRUTALLY ATTACKED BY HINDUS IN INDIA FOR BEING MUSLIM pic.twitter.com/2Wl9pvsaOu
— The Saviour (@stairwayto3dom) March 15, 2024
What is the Actual Truth About this Incident? : Fact
The truth is that when the girl student was leaving the cybercafe, the guy Shehbaz grabbed her hand violently and began threatening to harm her and her parents if she didn’t agree to marry him. After returning to her village, the girl told her parents about what had happened, and they lodged a police report. Under Section 354 (assault against a woman with intent to insult her modesty) and Section 506 (criminal intimidation), the police filed a complaint against the boy.The crowd thrashed him while he was threatening the girl.Six more were detained by the police.
We visited bhaskar, which published an article on this incident about one year ago with the heading “B.Com student molested at cyber café: In Khandwa, the miscreant pulled his hand and said – If she does not marry, I will kill her; Arrested”. Even bhaskar posted about this incident in details in another article posted one year ago with the headline”Those accused of molestation were beaten with sticks, VIDEO: Miscreants kidnapped and beat them severely, accused Hindu leaders; 6 arrest”.
The offical account of @khandwapolice tweeted “Information and action taken regarding the video of assault on a young man viral on social media platforms @MPPoliceDeptt” and attached the official report of the incident in a twitter post on Jan 18, 2023.
सोशल मीडिया प्लेटफार्म पर वायरल युवक के साथ मारपीट के वीडियो के सम्बन्ध में जानकारी तथा की गई कार्यवाही@MPPoliceDeptt pic.twitter.com/cLGcD88v9Q
— Khandwa Police (@khandwapolice) January 18, 2023
D-Intent’s Fact-Checking Results:
413
— D-Intent Data (@dintentdata) January 18, 2023
ANALYSIS: Misleading
FACT: A video is being circulated on social media platforms in which a mob of youths can be seen thrashing a guy with sticks, the video is being shared with the misleading claim that the victim guy was beaten up because of his identity/religion,(1/4) pic.twitter.com/AUKn5KJEVC
Intent:
Religious extremists are sharing the video and claiming that the boy was beaten up because of his identity, they are hiding his crime of molesting and threatening a girl and showing him as an innocent victim to set their fake narrative. A video is being circulated on social media platforms in which a mob of youths can be seen thrashing a guy with sticks, the video is being shared with the misleading claim that the victim guy was beaten up because of his identity/religion. The girl student was actually forcibly taken from the cybercafe by the boy Shehbaz, who then threatened to harm her and her parents if she didn’t agree to marry him. After that, the girl returned to her village and told her parents about what had happened. Her parents then complained to the police. Under Section 506 (criminal intimidation) and Section 354 (assault on a woman with intent to outrage her modesty), the police filed a complaint against the boy. He was beaten by the mob for threatening the girl. Additionally, six of them were taken into custody by police.
Conclusion:
Claim : Social media users are sharing a video showing young people beating up a man with stick. The video makes the false allegation that the victim’s identity or religion was the reason for the beating.
Fact : Fact is that the boy Shehbaz had forcibly pulled the girl student’s hand while leaving the cyber cafe & started threatening her that if she refuses to marry him,he will kill her & her parents. The police filed a case against the boy under Section 354 (assault to a woman with intent to outrage her modesty) and Section 506 (criminal intimidation). Police also arrested 6 of them.
