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
Rape survivor flogged in public under Sharia law.
Fact
Video dates back to March 2018 and shows a woman tied up to a tree and thrashed on the panchayat’s order in Bulandshahr, Uttar Pradesh, because she was suspected of having an affair.
A disturbing 1-minute 3-second video, purportedly showing a woman bound to a tree and being flogged in public, has gone viral across social media platforms with the claim that she was being punished for being a rape survivor, as under Sharia (Islamic) law, “if a woman is raped, it’s considered sex outside of marriage, and she is to be punished”.
“…In most Sharia countries, women are stoned to death if they report they were raped. So the one in the video got ‘lucky’ for only being flogged,” read one such X post, sharing the video, which has amassed 5.6 million views so far.
Fact Check
Newschecker ran a reverse image search of keyframes, which led us to the same video shared on X on March 22, 2018 by TRT World senior editor Anupam Bordoloi, stating that it happened in Bulandshahr, Uttar Pradesh, where a village kangaroo court ordered the tying up of a woman to a tree and flogging her for allegedly eloping with a neighbour.
We then came across this NDTV report, dated March 22, 2018, on the incident. “In western Uttar Pradesh’s Bulandshahr district, local reports say, a village panchayat had ordered the beating of the woman earlier this month because she was suspected of having an affair. Her crime and punishment were decided by the panchayat – in one of the countless kangaroo courts that populate India’s countryside. This was just 60 km from Delhi, the country’s capital. The video, reportedly shot by one of the villagers, was widely circulated this week. It is a full house as people circle around the scene, watching the woman be beaten up for more than a minute,” read the report, adding that three people, including the husband, were arrested by the police after a complaint was registered.
Similar reports can be seen here, here and here, where there was no mention of Sharia or Islamic law.
“The incident occurred on March 10 at Launga village, about 400 km from state capital Lucknow. Bulandshahr superintendent of police Praveen Ranjan Singh said police registered a case against 18 people, 12 of them unidentified, after receiving a copy of the video clip. Police contacted the woman, said to be in her late 20s, at her parents’ house on Wednesday night,” read a Hindustan Times report, dated March 22, 2018.
According to the then station officer of Syana police station, Altaf Ansari, who spoke to the Deccan Chronicle, “We found out about the incident Wednesday night through the video. We investigated the matter and by morning everything became clear.” “We called the woman, spoke to her and registered a case. We have arrested the husband, the panchayat pradhan (village headman) and his son,” Pravin Ranjan Singh, reportedly said, which further confirms that there was no communal angle to the incident.
Also Read: 2021 Video Falsely Linked to ₹5 Crore Seizure in Pune Ahead of Maharashtra Elections
Conclusion
Old video from UP where a woman was thrashed in public because she was suspected of having an affair falsely shared as rape survivor being flogged under Sharia law.
Result: False
Source
X post, March 22, 2018
NDTV report, March 22, 2018
Hindustan Times report, March 22, 2018
Deccan Chronicle report, March 23, 2018
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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.
