An old image showing a youth with a bruised back has gone viral on social media falsely claiming it as police action on a Muslim youth for misbehaving with hospital staff. BOOM traced the picture to July 2019 and found the claims to be unrelated.
A Hindi caption with the viral post reads 'Cops made permanent tattoos on a markaz patient who was walking naked in front of a nurse and abusing the hospital staff. Mohammed Mustafa, Mohammed Gulrez, Shoe and Majid were also booked under NSA for nudity'. The post also uses Islamophobic hashtags.
(Hindi: गाजियाबाद अस्पताल में मरकज के मरीज नर्स के सामने नंगा होकर घूमने, गाली देने पर पुलिस ने बनाये परमानेंट टैटू, नंग प्रदर्शन करने वाले मोहम्मद मुस्तफा, मोहम्मद गुलरेज,शोएब और मजीद पर NSA भी लगा है #इस्लाम_मुक्त_भारत, #इस्लामिकआतंकवाद, #तबलीगी_नहीं_तालिबानी_जमात_है )
BOOM also found out that National Security Act had been slapped against the four persons mentioned in the post. However, the action had not been initiated for nudity - as mentioned in the post - but for provoking the residents of Tat Patti Bakhal, Indore, Madhya Pradesh to attack a team of doctors who were visiting the area to screen a Coronavirus patient on April 1. Read more about it here and here.
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The viral post is shared below and its archived version can be checked here.
The post is disturbing in nature, viewer's discretion needed.
The same picture is viral with similar claims on Twitter too.
#आक_थू_जिहादी#गाजियाबाद_अस्पताल में #मरकज के मरीज #नर्स के सामने #नंगा होकर घूमने, #गाली देने पर #पुलिस ने बनाये #परमानेंट_टैटू, #नंग_प्रदर्शन करने वाले मोहम्मद मुस्तफा , मोहम्मद गुलरेज ,शोएब और मजीद पर #NSA भी लगा है..!!#_योगी_आदित्य_नाथ_का_इंसाफ pic.twitter.com/I9hXNWL6if
— Gokul Ojha 🎯 (@gocool4u) April 9, 2020
Incidentally, Live Hindustan, Hindi web portal of the flagship brand Hindustan (Hindi daily) also carried the same image with a different caption linking it to the ongoing lockdown. Check the archived version of Live Hindustan's post here.
The caption with the Hindi portal's photo reads 'People are quarantined because of the lockdown. However, some people in Devghar are not ready to follow rules. Due to this, police thrashed a youth leaving his back bruised. Police force has been appealing people to stay at home during lockdown but some of them are not ready to oblige'. The caption has linked the photo with lockdown in Devghar, Bihar.
Fact Check
BOOM ran a reverse image search on the photo and found it on some Facebook posts shared in 2019.
On July 17 last year, Facebook page Govt. Commerce College, Chittagong had shared the same photo without any caption.
The same photo was shared from another Facebook page with a sarcastic caption in Bangla. This post contains another picture showing the face of the injured youth.
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BOOM could not independently verify where the picture is originally from but we could track it back to last year, which means the claims linking it to the Tablighi Jamat markaz and lockdown are false.