A viral video claiming to show staff in a Bengaluru hospital were killing COVID-19 patients, is fake and doctored by splicing together old and unrelated video clips.
The viral clip begins with an interview of a patient's daughter who alleges that seven patients have been killed in a Bengaluru hospital.
Two unrelated videos -- the first showing an elderly patient being pinned down on a hospital bed and another video showing a person in medical scrubs attacking a patient in a hospital bed, are spliced together in the viral video to support the woman's claim.
In the first few seconds, the woman in distress says, "if one person dies, the hospital is given Rs. 8 lakh. Daily seven are being killed, they are being killed! They are not dying, they are being killed. Please take immediate action. Please save people, please! I lost my father."
The video then pans to the visuals of patients being attacked with the text that reads in Kannada, "see how patients are being killed in the name of corona".
The clip is viral as India's healthcare system has buckled under the burden of raging second wave of covid infections. Most state governments have declared partial to complete lockdowns to contain the spread of the second wave. Lack of medical oxygen has added to the woes of patients infected this time.
The video is viral on WhatsApp groups with the same narrative that claims that hospitals killing COVID-19 patients. It was also sent to BOOM's helpline number for verification.
The viral video can be seen below. It is distressing in nature, discretion advised.
Fact Check
BOOM was able to ascertain that the two unrelated clips have been added to a NewsFirst Kannada bulletin where a woman can be seen breaking down while speaking about her father's death. The bulletin was aired on April 22, 2021 in NewsFirst Kannada channel, from a hospital in Bengaluru. Below is the bulletin .
Video Of Man Attacking A Patient Lying On Hospital Bed
The video surfaced on social media in May 2020. It appears to show distressing moments of a middle aged man attacking an old ailing patient on a hospital bed.
BOOM was able to trace the clip to a Facebook page Sotterpothe that posted two other video clips from the same incident on May 13, 2020. Here is an archive of the post.
Note: The videos are distressing in nature.
আমাদের এই স্বপ্নের রাজ্যে মা-বাবার উপর ছেলের ভক্তি দেখুন,,, হাসপাতালের মধ্যেই ,,, আজকের বুদ্ধিজীবী সমাজ কি প্রতিবাদ করতে পারবে । Medicine word unit-3 Block:-A Seat number:-c
Posted by Sotterpothe. on Wednesday, 13 May 2020
Below is a screenshot of the post.
According to the caption, the incident occurred in one medicine ward unit of block A. On reaching out to the admins of the Facebook page, we were told that the clip is from GB Hospital in Agartala, Tripura. Authorities of the hospital however had denied the viral videos and said they do not belong to the hospital. While it is unclear where the video is from, the clip has been on the internet since May 2020, thus ascertaining that it did not happen at a hospital in Bengaluru.
CCTV Footage Of A Patient Attacked By Hospital Staff
The second clip, which shows a CCTV footage of a health worker attacking a patient is from August, 2020. We were able to see a Patiala place line on the top left corner of the clip. According to a report published in the Tribune, Patiala hospital staff thrashed a patient who was suffering from depression. The two staff members of the private hospital were arrested by the district police on August 24, 2020 and had been booked under Sections 323 and 342 of the IPC.
Karnataka State Police's Factcheck website fact checked the same viral video. The video had originated from a now deleted post of an Instagram account of one Mahanayaka_kannada. The admins of the account have also clarified and stated that it has been edited by someone with malicious intent.