An undated video of a woman lashing out at medics and policemen in a quarantine center in Pakistan is viral on social media with claims that it is from India. The clip is viral in the backdrop of several members of the Tablighi Jamaat - an Islamic sect, testing positive after attending a religious congregation in Delhi earlier in March.
The video shows a woman in a burkha yelling and throwing chairs at medical personnel as a crowd looks on.
BOOM found that the video is from Sukkur city of Sindh province, Pakistan, where a quarantine facility was set up by the Sindh government to attend to Shia devotees entering the country from the Iran border. Iran is the worst hit by novel Coronavirus in the Middle East.
The video is doing the rounds as India, with the caption that reads, "Illiterate Jihadis misbehaving with doctors instead of cooperating for treatment of corona. They shouldn't be diagnosed but treated 'on the spot', how long should the government bear with them."
(Original text in Hindi: कोरोना जांच में सहयोग की बजाए डाक्टरों के साथ बदतमीजी करते जाहिल जिहादी..'' ''इनकी जांच नहीं सीधे मोके पर ईलाज करना चाहिए!! सरकार कब तक झेलेगी इन जिहादियों को???)
It is viral on Twitter and Facebook with the same narrative.
Fact Check
BOOM was able to ascertain that the video is from Pakistan, as the language is not similar to the dialects spoken in India. We then found a reply to the tweet, which suggested that the video is from a quarantine facility in the Iran-Pakistan border.
Upon relevant keyword searches, we came across the same video, which was uploaded by multiple Pakistani handles. According to multiple tweets, the incident happened in Pakistan's Sukkur quarantine center in the last week of March, when pilgrims who were kept in isolation protested against the facilities.
The same video was uploaded on Twitter by Developing Pakistan (@DevelopmentPk) which stated that the incident happened in the Sukkur quarantine center, Labour Colony, where pilgrims were hostile toward doctors. The tweet further stated that the woman protesting had been tested positive of COVID-19 the second time. However, she termed the same as fake. The handle is followed by the government of Pakistan's official Twitter handle.
BOOM also found the video, that was uploaded to a Pakistani Facebook page, that curates news, on March 29 with the same narrative.
Additionally, we matched the buildings seen in the viral video with the Sukkur quarantine center that was set up to take in pilgrims entering Pakistan via the Taaftaan border from Iran. The same buildings can be seen in the video that was shared by Murtaza Wahab, adviser to chief minister of Sindh.
The Shia sect, visiting the tomb of Imam Khomeini, is known as Zaaireen.
Below is a frame comparison of both the videos.
While it is unclear why the woman lashed out at the medic team, the quarantine facility of Sukkur erupted in protests on March 21 after pilgrims complained that they were not provided with food or medicine. According to a report, "People at the coronavirus quarantine centre in Sukkur's Labour Colony came out on the streets in protest against the government Saturday afternoon.The protesters complained that they are not being provided medicines, food or water. According to the authorities, personnel of the police, Rangers and army have been called in to control the situation."
The video is the latest in a series of misinformation targeting the Muslim community in India after several people who took part in the religious congregation of the Tabligh-e-Jamaat in Delhi last month, tested positive for the coronavirus.