A disturbing video of a group of men brutally assaulting a minor girl in Gujarat for allegedly eloping with a man, is being shared with false claims that men from the upper castes in Uttar Pradesh are punishing a lower caste woman for drawing water from their well.
BOOM spoke to Gujarat police who confirmed that the incident is from Chhota Udepur district in the state and that nine people, including members from the girl's extended family have been booked by the police.
The video is being shared on Twitter and Facebook with a caption in Kannada, that "roughly translates to, "See what right-wing activists did to a Dalit woman who went to draw water from an upper caste persons well in Yogi's rajya."
Given the disturbing nature of the video, we are not including it in the story.
FACT CHECK
BOOM had previously reported that the viral video was from Chhota Udepur in Gujarat and local police had confirmed the incident saying the girl is a minor who was thrashed by the her family members.
MS Bhabhor, Superitendent of Police, Chhota Udepur told BOOM that the incident is from a village, Bilwat, under the jurisdiction of Rangpur police station and happened three to four days ago.
Bhabhor said the girl is a 16-year-old residents of Bilwat and those seen beating her are part of her extended family. "The girl eloped with a man from the village aged 20 and ran away to Madhya Pradesh. They were soon caught by the girl's family and brought back to the village where the family members of the girl beat her up publicly,"Bhabhor said. He added that the Gujarat police was alerted to the incident on May 27, when the video of the beating reached them. "We first traced the girl to Rangpur police jurisdiction and after speaking to her, registered a case against those who assaulted her, "he said.
He further added that following an FIR on May 27 against 16 people, the Chhota Udepur police have detained seven people while nine of the accused are still absconding.
Bhabhor denied the viral claims that the incident happened in Uttar Pradeh and that higher caste men beat up a girl for drawing water from their well. "The incident is from Gujarat and not Uttar Pradesh. The girl belongs to a tribal family and those seen in the video beating her up are her own family members, not outsiders,"he said. He further added, "There is no angle of water being drawn from a well. The girl was beaten for eloping and we have also registered a case of kidnapping against the man she allegedly eloped with because he is aged 20 while the girl is a minor."