Authors
An alleged CCTV video showing two army men helping a pregnant woman climb a stairway is going viral on social media with captions heaping praise on the soldiers, with many sharing the video as authentic. Newschecker found the video to be scripted and made for entertainment and educational purposes.
The two-minute and twenty-second-long video shows a pregnant lady with luggage struggling to climb stairs in a public space. While several passersby do not offer help, two men in uniforms lift her up the stairs and carry her luggage.
The video is being shared with captions such as, ‘I salute our soldiers,’ and ‘Humanity is still alive…this is what a soldier is.’
The video has garnered lakhs of views and thousands of retweets since December 19 on the platform.
A longer version of the same video which is three-minute and twenty-four seconds is widely shared on both YouTube and Facebook with similar captions (here, here, here, and here).
Factcheck/Verification
To check if the video shows a real incident, Newschecker started by analyzing the video and found a disclaimer at the end of the video in the longer versions posted on YouTube and Facebook platforms.
Though the text in the disclaimer is not clearly visible it gave us a hint that the video might be scripted.
On running a reverse image search on keyframes from the video we found a Facebook post by ‘Star Creative Production,’ an arts and entertainment page that carries a better resolution version of the viral video.
Towards the end of the video, we found a disclaimer that reads, “This reel like video footage is published only for the purpose of educating the public by making them understand how the real-world situations will be. During this video making, we have taken real incidents and picturized (them) to educate the public. Characters in this video are (for) entertainment and educational purposes only.”
Star Creative Production has credited Telugu actor, Priya for the viral video with a link to her Facebook profile.
On searching through the actor’s profile who is known for feature films and Telugu soap operas, we found the viral video with the caption, “They are amazing…Thank you for watching! Please be aware that this page features scripted dramas and parodies as well. These short films are for entertainment & educational purposes only!”
The video was posted on January 02, 2020, but the date visible throughout the video reads December 17, 2021, which might be one of the reasons why it is viral now.
Newschecker has contacted the actor and we will update the copy once we have a response.
On further examining the actor’s page, we found several other scripted videos with similar messages. One such video showing a schoolgirl helping a pregnant woman in pain was debunked by Newschecker recently. You can read our fact-check here.
Conclusion
The video showing soldiers lifting a pregnant woman up the stairways is scripted, it is being falsely shared as a real incident.
Result: Misleading
Our Sources
Star Creative Production’s Facebook page
Telugu actor Priya’s Facebook page
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