A viral video claiming that stand up comic Munawar Faruqui was beaten up by cops and a lawyer in Indore recently, is misleading.
BOOM found that the man seen in the viral video is Sadakat Khan, a friend of Faruqui, who had gone to visit him after he was arrested in Indore on January 2, 2021 for allegedly hurting religious sentiments.
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The video is viral in the backdrop of a recent incident in Indore, Madhya Pradesh involving Faruqui and four others against whom a complaint was filed by a BJP MLA's son accusing them of passing indecent remarks on Hindu deities, and Home minister Amit Shah during a show organised in the city. According to news reports, Faruqui was arrested along with four others and sent to judicial custody on January 2.
Faruqui, along with Edwin Anthony, Prakhar Vyas, Priyam Vyas and Nalin Yadav, has been booked under Sections 295A (intent to outrage religious feelings), 298 (Uttering words to wound religious feelings), 269 (Negligent act likely to spread infection of disease dangerous to life), 188 (disobedience to order promulgated by public servant) and 34 (criminal acts done by several people to further a common intention) of the IPC.
The disturbing video show a man dressed in white shirt assaulting a visibly shaken Sadakat Khan even as sits on a motorcycle flanked by cops from front and behind. One of the cop even abuses Khan on camera.
Also Read: Hindutva Group Targets Munawar Faruqui Again, Forces Comedian To Cancel Mumbai Shows
BOOM has not shared the video owing to the violence shown in it. The video has been shared from several social media platforms and can be viewed here and here. Viewers' discretion is advised.
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Fact Check
BOOM watched the video closely and found that the man sitting on the motorcycle did not resemble Faruqui at all. We also compared a screenshot from the viral video with Faruqui's photo and found them to be different.
We then performed a keyword search with 'Munawar Faruqui beaten' on various social media platforms and found a tweet by Hussain Haidry on January 2, 2021 sharing screenshots from the same video.
Haidry's tweet read 'Seems like a video of one of the persons arrested along with Munawar Faruqui being taken away by the police. And getting abused and beaten up in front of the police'.
He later updated the tweet saying 'Update:This guy who is getting slapped, his name is Sadakat Khan. He's a friend of Munawar, works as a supervisor in a construction company in Bombay. He had gone to meet him in the court for hearing as his maternal home is in Indore, MP, and has gotten arrested too'.
We then performed a keyword search with 'Munawar Faruqui's friend beaten' and found some news reports about the incident.
Stating about the incident shown in the viral video, a Times of India report says that police had denied that any of the suspects were beaten up. According to the report, police said that the youth seen in the viral video is a 'friend of the accused'.
Another report published on January 2 in NDTV Khabar states that Munawar's friend Sadakat, who was at the district court in connection with the incident, was mistaken for the stand up comic and assaulted by a man.
Another report by Republic Bharat published on January 4 states that a friend of Faruqui was beaten up outside the district court by a lawyer.
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