A video showing a man attacking a priest at a religious site is being shared with the claim that a Hindu priest was assaulted by individuals from another religious group for offering prasad to children near the temple. However, according to local sources, the incident is actually tied to a personal dispute.
Sharing the video on X (Formerly Twitter) @JspBVMNaresh wrote, “A pagan who beat up a Brahmin for giving him prasadam. An incident occurred at the Subramanya Swamy Temple, Telagapalem, Ponnur village, Guntur district, where some pagans came into the temple and indiscriminately attacked a priest who was giving him prasadam. Attacks on Hindus are frequent. I request Home Minister @Anitha_TDP to take strict action against him so that such incidents do not happen again. ( Translated from Telugu)
ప్రసాదం పెట్టినందుకు బ్రాహ్మణుడిని కొట్టిన అన్యమతస్తుడు.!!!
— JSP Naresh (@JspBVMNaresh) January 10, 2025
గుడి ముందు ఆడుకుంటున్నటువంటి పిల్లలకు సుబ్రహ్మణ్య స్వామి వారి ప్రసాదము పెట్టిన అర్చకుని పై కొంతమంది అన్య మతస్తులు దేవాలయంలోకి వచ్చి విచక్షణారహితంగా దాడి చేసిన సంఘటన గుంటూరు జిల్లా, పొన్నూరు గ్రామం, తెలగపాలెం, శంకరమఠ వీధి… pic.twitter.com/bIHgKoqO2H
Several other users, influencers and propagandists have also disseminated the video and made similar claims. Their posts can be seen here, @shilpa_cn, @Mute_hindu, @ssaratht, @TelanganaMaata.
The truth about the video of temple priest assault, Fact Check
As soon as the posts containing the video and claims came to our notice. Subsequently, we conducted research and analysis of the video. We found that the incident was not related to a religious hate crime but a personal dispute.
To verify the claims made by the users. We performed relevant keyword searches and found local media coverage regarding the incident. According to the local media reports (1, 2, 3), the priest had a disagreement with a woman over-drying fish, which led to her son entering the temple and attacking the priest. The attack has no connection to offering prasad to children. A case has been registered, and further action is underway. This incident took place in Guntur, Andhra Pradesh.
Therefore, it is evident from verified sources that the claim about the priest being assaulted for offering prasad to children was not true.
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— D-Intent Data (@dintentdata) January 11, 2025
ANALYSIS: Misleading
FACT: A video showing a man attacking a priest at a religious site is being shared with the claim that individuals from another religious group assaulted a Hindu priest for offering prasad to children near the temple. (1/3) pic.twitter.com/Letn4hDOPK
Intent
Influencers are circulating videos from Andhra Pradesh with misleading claims to set their narrative.
Conclusion
Claim– A temple priest was attacked for offering prasad to children near a temple in Guntur, Andhra Pradesh.
Fact– The temple priest was assaulted over a personal dispute. Nothing to do with prasad distribution to children.
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