Video of a street play shared as murder of an RSS supporter by Muslims in Kerala.
Claim
Is this true @RSSOrg? @HMOIndia? A woman, RSS supporter, was pulled out of her car and shot dead in Kerala. The murderers, Muslims, thereafter delivered a speech warning all, to never support RSS or be prepared to meet the same fate.
Rating
Explanation
A 1:37-minute video purportedly showing someone killing a woman after dragging her out from the car that she was in, is shared widely to claim that the woman was an RSS supporter and was shot dead by Muslims. The posts also mention “the murdered delivered a speech warning all, to never support RSS or be prepared to meet the same fate, after killing her”. The video also shows the person speaking to the crowd. Some of the posts with such a claim can be seen here and here.
What is the truth?
When reverse searching the keyframes of the viral video, we found a Facebook post dated 9, September 2017 by CPIM Cyber Commune carrying the viral video. The video is captioned in Malayalam and is roughly translated as “A street drama based on the killing of Gauri Lankesh, who was shot dead by the RSS”.
The same video is also found posted by DYFI Kalikavu MC Facebook page on 8, September 2017. The length of this video is 5:02 minutes and this post mentions that it is the full-length video of the Dyfi Meghla Committee program. The caption of the video is roughly translated as “This is DYFI in Mone Kalikavu….. An Adar item against RSS…. The street drama where the RSS is being tried by the people by making the death of Gauri Lankesh, who was shot dead by the RSS, a sensation”. This proves that the video is of a street play of Journalist Gauri Lankesh’s murder organised by Communist party people.
This video was viral in 2017 with a similar claim. A News 18 article published in September 2017 reported that the street play was organised by DYFI (Democratic Youth Federation of India ) against the murder of senior journalist Gauri Lankesh, and their play intended to highlight the role of RSS in the attack on freedom of speech.
The article mentions that the man in the video was actually saying that the “RSS murdered her for speaking against them.” He goes on to say, “This is the real face of RSS. Traitors. They are a threat. Silence is dangerous. This silence, despite fascism making its way into your kitchen, is dangerous.”
The Indian Express reported that “the murder of Gauri Lankesh was an “organised crime” carried out by persons linked to the radical right-wing outfit, Sanatan Sanstha, a Special Investigation Team of the Karnataka Police stated in a chargesheet.”
Conclusion
It is found that the video is not of the murder of an RSS woman by Muslims in Kerala but is a street play of Gauri Lankesh’s murder by DYFI.
