An old video of a man and a woman beating a specially-abled person with sticks is now doing rounds with a false claim that the clip shows visuals of an extremist mob attack in Punjab.
BOOM found that the incident took place in 2022 when a couple was arrested for beating their relative in Uttar Pradesh's Greater Noida area over a family dispute.
The initial few seconds of the 33-seconds-long video shows the specially-abled person on scooter being assaulted by a man with a long stick. In the later part of the video, a woman also joins the man to assault and smashes the scooter as the argument escalates.
A Twitter handle named South Asian Human Rights Watch tweeted the video with a caption saying, "In a shocking display of human rights violation, a distressing video has emerged from the Indian state of Punjab, revealing a horrific incident of brutality inflicted upon a helpless man by an extremist mob."
Click here to view the tweet.
The handle further adds to the tweet saying, "The footage showcases a disturbing scene, shedding light on the harrowing realities faced by individuals in the region. The video captures the merciless torture inflicted upon the victim, highlighting the urgency for immediate action against such heinous acts of violence. As the incident continues to generate widespread outrage, calls for justice and accountability have intensified, underscoring the critical need for measures to address and prevent such grave violations in India."
The clip is also circulating on Facebook making a similar false claim.
Click here to view the post.
Fact Check
BOOM ran a reverse image search on one of the keyframes from the video and found a ABP News report from March 29, 2022, reporting that the incident took place in Uttar Pradesh's Greater Noida area.
The article carried a screengrab from the viral video and mentioned that the assault happened on March 27, 2022, when the accused Jugendra and his wife thrashed their specially-abled relative over a dispute. The couple got arrested later for their inhumane act, the report added citing news agency ANI.
Taking a cue, we ran a related keyword search on Twitter and found a tweet by ANI UP/Uttarakhand's official Twitter handle posted on March 29, 2022.
The tweet quoted then Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police (Greater Noida) Vishal Pandey who mentioned that the dispute took place over renting a schoolhouse in Greater Noida area.
We also found another ANI report from March 30, 2022, about the incident quoting Pandey saying, “The specially-abled man had rented a property from his relatives to run a school. But due to the Covid-19 lockdown, he couldn’t afford the expenses. This escalated into a heated argument between them and the two accused attacked the elderly man beating him and vandalizing his two-wheeler.”
A statement was also released about the incident from the official Twitter account of the Gautam Buddh Nagar Police Commissionerate on March 29, 2022.
The tweet can be viewed here.