A distressing video from Bangalore showing a husband abusing his wife in front of their young son is viral online with the false communal claim that the man is a Muslim and is abusing his Hindu wife.
The 2-minute long viral video shows a woman celebrating her son's birthday when her husband enters the room and begins hitting her. The young child, looking at his father, follows cue and he too starts beating the woman.
The text in the viral video identifies the man as 'Mohammed Mushtaq GK' and is shared with the caption, "A young Hindu girl married Bangalore-based IT expert Mohammad Mushtaq....* On the day of the son's birth, a lamp was lit according to Hindu tradition. See how he treated her. Every Hindu girl and whole country should watch this.."
Click here for an archive.
FACT CHECK
BOOM found that the video dates back to 2015 and both the husband and wife are Muslims; there is no communal angle to the incident.
We first ran a keyword search of the incident using 'man assaults wife on son's birthday video' and found a report published by India Today on October 4, 2022. According to this report, then Delhi Commission for Women chief Swati Maliwal had expressed her concern over the video and written to Karnataka's then Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai about the same.
Maliwal had also shared the video on her X account on October 3, 2022. See here.
The India Today report also carried a video statement from the the woman, Ayesha, who claimed that she was denied a divorce from her husband, Mohammed Mushtaq, and that he had remarried following the incident. She further alleged that he had filed a defamation suit of Rs 50 lakh against her.
We also found that the husband, Mohammed Mushtaq, had filed a petition in the Karnataka High Court seeking custody of the child. However, the order dated December 21, 2021, not only denied his petition but also directed him to pay Rs 50,000 to Ayesha as compensation.
It is clearly stated in this court order that both Mohammed Mushtaq and Ayesha Banu are Sunni Muslims. There is no mention of a domestic dispute on the grounds of religion.
We also found a video statement given by Ayesha Banu to Instagram page Humans of Bombay on November 1, 2022. The caption of this post states that the incident in the viral video took place in 2015 during Banu's son's second birthday.