A video showing police personnel use batons on a group of hijab-clad protestors is being shared on social media with captions falsely claiming that it shows the current state of Karnataka.
BOOM found that the video is from an incident that took place in Khoda Colony of Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh where UP police lathi-charged a group of pro-hijab protestors.
The video is being shared in the backdrop of the raging controversy in several districts of Karnataka after the government disallowed the wearing of hijab to colleges.
The viral video has been shared on Facebook with a Hindi caption translating to 'The media can never show anything right, brothers, but you guys can show all your friends or groups, share this video to every group and every friend so that what is happening in Karnataka today does not happen to you, Please share more, help all these sisters so that all of can get justice'.
(Hindi: ये मीडिया कभी कुछ सही नही दिखा सकती भाईयो लेकिन आप लोग आप दिखा सकते हो आपके जितने भी दोस्त है या ग्रुप है ये वीडियो हर ग्रुप और हर दोस्त को शेयर करे ताकि आपकी जो आज कर्नाटक में हो रहा है कल वो आपके सात ना हो प्लीज जादा से जादा शेयर करे इन सब बहनों की मदद करे ताकि इन सब को इंसाफ मिल सक)
The video is disturbing in nature. Viewers discretion is advised.
Watch the video here.
Another Hindi caption with a Facebook post sharing the video translates to 'This video is said to be from Karnataka. The media can never show anything right, brothers, but you guys can show all your friends or groups, share this video to every group and every friend so that what is happening in Karnataka today does not happen to you, Please share more, help all these sisters so that all of can get justice'.
Watch the video here.
(Hindi: #सितमगरों_याद_रखो_खुदा_भी_है ये वीडियो कर्नाटक का बताया जा रहा है ये मीडिया कभी कुछ सही नही दिखा सकती भाईयो लेकिन आप लोग दिखा सकते हो आपके जितने भी दोस्त है या ग्रुप है ये वीडियो हर ग्रुप और हर दोस्त को शेयर करे ताकि आपकी जो आज कर्नाटक में हो रहा है कल वो आपके साथ ना हो प्लीज ज्यादा से ज्यादा शेयर करे इन सब बहनों की मदद करे ताकि इन सब को इंसाफ मिल सके
We also found a Twitter post with the same video and caption.
A user had also sent us the same on our WhatsApp helpline number.
BOOM also found several other videos being shared along with this caption, with several unrelated or old videos being false shared to show the current situation in Karnataka.
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Fact-Check
BOOM did a reverse image search and found the same video shared on Twitter on February 16 by a user called Sachin Gupta. Gupta's Twitter profile mentions him as a journalist.
In his tweet, Gupta claims that the incident in the video happened on February 13 in Uttar Pradesh's Ghaziabad District.
The English translation of the caption he shared with the video reads 'In Uttar Pradesh's Ghaziabad district, police lathi-charged women protesting in favor of hijab. Two arrested, including a woman named Muskan. The video of February 13 has surfaced now. Police said that the women engaged in indecency, scuffles and abuses.'
We found a reply from Ghaziabad police's verified account on Sachin Gupta's tweet confirming that the incident did take place in Uttar Pradesh's Ghaziabad, and not Karnataka.
The tweet stated that Ghaziabad police was informed of a protest near Shani Baazar at Ghaziabad's Khoda area. They then claimed that after approaching the protestors and asking them for permission for protesting, the protestors engaged in scuffles, after which they were apprehended.
BOOM reached out to Khoda Police and Sachin Gupta for more information but got no response. The report will be updated when we hear from them.
We also found news reports about the incident. A report published in NDTV on February 16 stated that the police had filed an FIR against the protestors.