Video of family dispute in UP shared as extremist violence in Punjab.
Claim
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.
Rating
Explanation
A video of a specially-abled man being beaten by a man and a woman with sticks is circulated with a claim that it is a horrific incident of brutality inflicted upon a helpless man by an extremist mob in the Indian state of Punjab. The video was shared with such a claim initially by ‘South Asian Human Rights Watch’ and is amplified by other social media users. Some of the posts can be seen here and here.
A frightening video from the Indian state of #Punjab has surfaced, showing an appalling instance of brutality done upon a vulnerable man by an extremist mob. This is a shocking exhibit of human rights violation. pic.twitter.com/ig67AadesR
— TIND Posting (@tindposting) June 27, 2023
What is the truth?
When reverse-searching the keyframes of the viral video we found that the video is old, and the incident is due to a family dispute and not extremist violence as claimed. Further, the incident happened in Uttar Pradesh and not in Punjab as claimed.
ABP Live news report dated 30, March 2022 reported that a man attacked the disabled person when he was in his scooty, and later a woman also joined the man and thrashed the specially-abled man and his scooty. The attackers are identified as a married couple.
NDTV reported about the incident and it is identified that the attacker is Jugendra, who lives in the Jewar area. He had given his school on lease to his relative Gajendra, who is specially abled. And the incident of violence is due to an issue that happened between them. The viral video is found published on NDTV’s youtube channel mentioning that the two men in the video are relatives and are in a dispute over property.
The Print reported that Additional Director General of Police of Greater Noida, Vishal Pandey said, “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.” The two accused were arrested by the police. No role of extremist is found in this incident.
Conclusion
It is found that an old video of a couple thrashing a specially-abled person in Uttar Pradesh in a dispute over property is falsely shared as extremist violence in Punjab.
