Authors
Kushel HM is a mechanical engineer-turned-journalist, who loves all things football, tennis and films. He was with the news desk at the Hindustan Times, Mumbai, before joining Newschecker.
Pankaj Menon is a fact-checker based out of Delhi who enjoys ‘digital sleuthing’ and calling out misinformation. He has completed his MA in International Relations from Madras University and has worked with organisations like NDTV, Times Now and Deccan Chronicle online in the past.
Claim
Muslims brutally thrash Christian youth in Pakistan.
The archived version of the tweet can be seen here.
Fact
Newschecker saw several users pointing out that the video was old and from Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh. Taking a cue from this, we ran a relevant keyword search that led us to this Dainik Bhaskar report from around two years ago, sharing the same video, stating that a 12th standard student from the Kolar area of Bhopal was flogged by other students. We came across this Free Press Journal report on the incident, dated November 5, 2022, sharing a screengrab of the viral video.
“According to Kolar police station in-charge, Chandrakant Patel, the victim is a 16-year-old student from Bairagarh Chichli. Victim told police that he reached school at 8am. About 3 boys were fighting outside school. Of them, 2 boys study with him in school. Victim did not know the other boys. When he came out after school hours, he found some other boys standing with the third unknown boy. They asked him for the address of a student whom he knew. When he refused, they snatched the key and took away his bike… They took the victim to Om Nagar Ground and asked to call some other student. Victim called him. But he was out of Bhopal. Victim told police that the boys beat him mercilessly after taking off his pants,” read the report.
According to a Live Hindustan report, dated November 4, 2022, the fight was over a girl student and the names of the accused are Richard, Lucky Malviya, Sandeep and Harshit. None of the reports mentioned any communal angle to the case.
The video had gone viral last year, too, claiming to show a Muslim youth being beaten up in Meerut, Uttar Pradesh, following which the police took to Twitter to clarify that the incident is from Bhopal. Newschecker had debunked the claim, contacting the then Kolar Road head constable Rishi Tiwari, who said there was no communal angle and that the victim belonged to the Hindu community.
Also Read: Viral Video Of ISKCON Members Distributing Food To Flood Victims In Bangladesh Is Old
Result: False
Sources
Dainik Bhaskar report
Free Press Journal report, November 5, 2022
Live Hindustan report, November 4, 2022
Conversation with Kolar Road police head constable
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Authors
Kushel HM is a mechanical engineer-turned-journalist, who loves all things football, tennis and films. He was with the news desk at the Hindustan Times, Mumbai, before joining Newschecker.
Pankaj Menon is a fact-checker based out of Delhi who enjoys ‘digital sleuthing’ and calling out misinformation. He has completed his MA in International Relations from Madras University and has worked with organisations like NDTV, Times Now and Deccan Chronicle online in the past.
