Old Video of a Hindu Woman Beating a Muslim Man Falsely Linked to Pathaan
The video dates back to 2021 and is unrelated to the controversies surrounding the Bollywood film Pathaan.
Fact-Check |The video showing a Hindu woman slapping a Muslim man is not recent.
(Photo: Altered by The Quint)
A clip, which shows a woman slapping and pulling a Muslim man's hair on a train, is being shared on the internet linking it to Bollywood actor Shah Rukh Khan's upcoming film Pathaan.
Social media users shared the video claiming that the incident was in the aftermath of the controversies surrounding the film, which has led to boycott calls.
An archive of the post can be seen here.
At the time of writing this report, the video in the above tweet had garnered more than 75,000 views.
The editor-in-chief of Sudarshan News, Suresh Chavhanke, also shared it insinuating that the "Pathan received the blessings of the saffron colour".
(Archives to similar claims can be found here, here, and here.)
Rajasthan Patrika shared the viral video mentioning that it is a recent one.
But are these claims true?: No, the video could be traced back to 2021 and shows a Hindutva leader, Madhu Sharma, beating a Muslim man for allegedly pushing her on a train.
How did we find out?: The Quint's WebQoof team had previously debunked claims around the same video in March 2022, when it was falsely linked to Vivek Agnihotri's The Kashmir Files.
We had found an article published on The Wire on October 2021 after performing a keyword search. It carried the viral video.
It identified the woman as Hindutva leader Madhu Sharma, reportedly a disciple of a preacher named Yati Narsinghanand.
Sharma was seen violently beating the Muslim man on a train for allegedly pushing her. She could be heard saying, "I will kill you. Touch my feet."
The article further said that Sharma had shared the clip on her Facebook page on 18 October 2021 but her profile is now locked.
The article was published in 2021 and identified the woman as Madhu Sharma.
Conclusion: The video dates back to 2021 is not related to the recent controversies around Shah Rukh Khan's Pathaan.
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