A disturbing video showing a group of men violently attacking and assaulting a boy is being shared on social media with false captions linking the incident to a case of alleged 'love jihad' in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh.
BOOM found that the boy who was attacked by the men is a minor and belongs to the Hindu community. We also contacted the local police station and found that the girl and boy were from the same community and both were minors.
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The viral video shows a group of men attack a youngster even as policemen try to intervene. A Facebook post sharing the video uses a Hindi caption translating to 'A love jihadi was caught in Bhopal. He was caught while trying to lure a Hindu girl. Lions treating the mental condition of the jihadi'.
(Hindi: भोपाल में एक और #लवजिहादी हत्ते चढा..हिन्दू बालिका को बहला फुसला कर ले जाते समय आया पकड़ में.#जिहादी की मानसिक स्थिती का इलाज करते शेर)
The video has been shared from multiple Facebook pages with similar claims.
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Fact Check
BOOM did a keyword search to find more about the incident. We found several news reports stating that the incident took place in Dewas district of Madhya Pradesh.
A report published in First Post on September 3, 2021 states that the minor boy was thrashed by a group of men in Dewas allegedly on the suspicion of a case of 'love jihad'. The incident took place in the last week of August.
The report also mentions that both the girl and the boy hailed from Uttar Pradesh and were minors.
According to a Times Of India report, the 16-year-old boy was spotted traveling on a bus with the 12-year-old girl. The report mentions that the duo belonged from the same community and adds that the Dewas police had registered cases against three men and are trying to identify 15 others from the video.
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Taking cue, BOOM contacted Bhaurnasa police station in Dewas to get more information.
An inspector at the police station told BOOM that both the boy and the girl were minor and belonged to the same community. "The UP police had informed the MP police. They took them back. They were sent to Dewas Women police station from where the UP police escorted them back," the inspector told BOOM.
BOOM was able to confirm with the police that both the boy and girl are Hindus. We are not disclosing their identity as they are minors.