Authors
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.
Ruby leads editorial, operations and initiatives at Newschecker. In her former avatar at New Delhi Television (NDTV), India’s leading national news network, she was a news anchor, supervising producer and senior output editor. Her over a decade-long career encompasses ground-breaking reportage from conflict zones and reporting on terror incidents, election campaigns, and gender issues. Ruby is an Emmy-nominated producer and has handled both local and international assignments, including the coverage of Arab Spring in 2011, the US Presidential elections in 2016, and ground reportage on the Kashmir issue since 2009.
Claim:
Women of French paramilitary beat up group of men who were harassing them in a metro underpass.
Fact:
The viral video is scripted and the women and men seen in the video are professional stunt artists.
A video of three women throwing punches at a group of men harassing them in a subway is viral on social media platforms. Those sharing the video claiming that the women were with the ‘French paramilitary’ and that the harassers were north African immigrants, attempting ‘taharrush’, arabic for a mass sexual harrassment of women.
A post on X ( formerly Twitter) by user @meantweeting1, claimed, “Somewhere in a subway in Paris, security cameras captured a heartwarming scene… A group of Muslim Military Age Men thought they had easy prey. Unfortunately for them, the 3 women belong to some kind of French paramilitary group & know well how to deal with the thugs.”
The video was also shared with Newschecker on our WhatsApp tipline (+91 9999499044) by several users, requesting it to be fact checked.
Also read: 2013 Video From Egypt Falsely Shared As Footage Of Israel’s Raid On Gaza Hospital
Fact check/Verification
Newschecker began by splitting the viral video into keyframes using InVid. We looked up the keyframes of the viral video which led us to similar videos online.
One such video shows two men harassing a woman accompanied by a man (seemingly her partner). A fight ensues and eventually the woman knocks down both the harassers.
As is clear by the comparison above, the setting of both videos are the same, and one of the harassers were noted to be common in both the videos, suggesting that the viral video is scripted.
We further analysed the viral video and noticed the insignia CUC on the sweatshirt of one of the men harassing the women.
We then looked up the keywords CUC and fight on Google and found the Instagram page of one Campus Univers Cascades, which described themselves as a French stunt team.
We saw the same viral video posted on their page on November 2, 2023. The hashtags #cucteam, #stuntteam and #choregraphy further confirm that it is scripted.
The website of the group, that was linked to the Instagram account further confirms that the group is a stunt team.
“Campus Univers Cascades (CUC), created in 2008, is a professional training center dedicated to stunt techniques in cinema and shows,” the website reads.
Conclusion
We can thus conclude that the viral video that claims to show women from the French paramilitary beating up their harassers, is actually scripted.
Result: False
Our Sources
Self analysis
Video on Instagram posted by Baroudydaioy2.0, on November 4, 2023
Video on Instagram posted by Campus Univers Cascades,on November 2, 2023
Website of Campus Univers Cascades
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Authors
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.
Ruby leads editorial, operations and initiatives at Newschecker. In her former avatar at New Delhi Television (NDTV), India’s leading national news network, she was a news anchor, supervising producer and senior output editor. Her over a decade-long career encompasses ground-breaking reportage from conflict zones and reporting on terror incidents, election campaigns, and gender issues. Ruby is an Emmy-nominated producer and has handled both local and international assignments, including the coverage of Arab Spring in 2011, the US Presidential elections in 2016, and ground reportage on the Kashmir issue since 2009.
