A video from Bihar of an angry mob thrashing two women suspected to be child kidnappers is being shared with a false claim that they are Kashmiri women. The video has been edited to add a voice-over giving a misleading description that the incident is from Kashmir.
The video is being shared after the Bharatiya Janata Party-led Union government on August 5 abrogated Article 370 and revoked the special status granted to Jammu and Kashmir. The state was placed under a communications lockdown and internet connectivity services shutdown.
BOOM received the video with the added voice over on its helpline (7700906111) to verify the claim.
The video was also received by BOOM on its helpline number (7700906111) from a user asking for its veracity. Given the graphic nature of the video, we have decided to not include it.
The video shows a mob kicking and brutally assaulting the women while they plead with the crowd to stop.
The false claim is in the Hindi voice over which translates to, "Assalamu alaikum dear brothers, how are you? I have received this video from Kashmir. If you don't know this, I am telling you that it is from Kashmir. You can watch with your own eyes what is happening in Kashmir. We receive such videos daily. We watch it and for two minutes we are disturbed. But this time we are going to give this to the media and make it viral so that it will even reach Imran Khan. When the Prime Minister will look at it maybe then he will show some mercy."
(Original text in Hindi - अस्सलामु अलैकुम प्यारे भाइयों क्या हाल चल है? यह एक वीडियो मेरे पास आयी है जो कश्मीर की है | किसी को यदि न भी पता हो न तो मैं बताता हूँ की यह वीडियो कश्मीर की है | कश्मीर में जो हो रहा है आप अपनी आँखों से देख रहे हो | रोज़ इस तरह की वीडियो हमारे पास आती हैं | हम रोज़ देखते है और दो मिनट परेशान होते हैं | इस बार हम इस वीडियो को मीडिया तक पहुचाएंगे और इमरान खान शाब तक भी जानी चाहिए | और यह वज़ीर-ए-आज़म जब देखेगा न इस वीडियो को तो शायद उसके दिल में रहम आ जाए | मैं कसम नहीं दूंगा |")
Fact Check
The same video was viral in August just days after the incident in Rohtas, Bihar that led to the arrest of hundreds of people for attacking the two women.
According to news reports, on July 26, the victims - Sangeeta Devi and Baby Devi were accompanied by three children and asking for directions at Maliyabagh in Rohtas. The mob suspected that them to be child kidnappers when one of them flustered and gave vague answers about who the identity of the children.
A report in Jagran, said that police personnel who tried rescuing the women from the angry also sustained injuries. Local police registered an FIR against more than 500 people.
BOOM also found a video story by TV9 Bharatvvarsh where the reporter spoke to the two victims. At 1:22 mins in the story, the women, explain how they were asking for directions and were beaten by the mob.