Authors
Vaibhav is a part of Newschecker’s English team, where he spots and debunks all kinds of misinformation, making the rounds on the internet. A Journalism graduate from St. Xavier's College, Mumbai, he holds an M.A degree in Philosophy and an M.Phil from Delhi University.
With the much anticipated assembly elections underway in Uttar Pradesh, social media has become a hotbed for political misinformation. One such viral video of women being molested by a group of men is being shared on social media with the claim that under the Samajwadi Party regime the state of Uttar Pradesh was in chaos and ruled by the mafia and hooligans.
This video has been shared on social media widely. Newschecker found one such tweet which has garnered around 1,700 views with a 100 likes and and around 110 retweets with the caption ‘An old clip from Azam Khan’s Rampur. This is how peacefuls used to molest Hindu girls. Vote wisely Hindus’ along with #UttarPradeshElections2022.
The video is disturbing in nature and Newschecker urges user discretion in viewing the content.
With the UP elections underway, both BJP and SP have been seen trading blows in the media. UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has criticised the state of affairs in UP before the BJP came to power. Yogi Adityanath claimed that under the Samajwadi Party regime, the state of Uttar Pradesh was under a ‘GundaRaj’ run by hooligans of the SP.
Also read: Factcheck: UP’s Crime Rate Has Not Seen A ‘Dramatic Improvement’ As Claimed By Amit Shah
Factcheck/ Verification
Upon performing a keyword search, Newschecker found several media reports, one of which was an article by the Indian Express from 29 May, 2017. According to the report, 14 people were identified to be arrested following the molestation incident in Rampur. According to the report an FIR was launched in Tanda police station under accusations of sexual harassment and assualt. The molesters were identified to be residents of Kuwakhera village.
It is worth noting that Yogi Adityanath took oath as the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh on 19 March 2017. This incident is not of SP but of BJP tenure.
Newscheker also found articles from Firstpost and India Today which were uploaded on 29, May 2017. According to the article, some of the men seen molesting the women were on the run and a manhunt was on in the state to arrest the people. The group of men had molested the women in broad daylight, filmed the incident and uploaded it on social media after which it went viral.
According to the article many questions were raised against the Yogi Adityanath government regarding the safety and security of women in Uttar Pradesh.
Newschecker found a video news report uploaded on the Times of India Youtube channel which relayed the same story. The video was uploaded on 29, May 2017.
Conclusion
According to the investigation conducted by the Newschecker team, it was found that the viral video of a group of men molesting women with the claim that it was done under the SP rule was verified to be from when BJP was in power in UP.
Result: Misleading/Partly False
Our Sources
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Authors
Vaibhav is a part of Newschecker’s English team, where he spots and debunks all kinds of misinformation, making the rounds on the internet. A Journalism graduate from St. Xavier's College, Mumbai, he holds an M.A degree in Philosophy and an M.Phil from Delhi University.
