CLAIM
A video showing an old man, allegedly a Sikh, being beaten by a group of people is doing the rounds on social media. The man can be heard chanting, “Bharat mata ki jai” and is surrounding by a group of men who thrash the old man.
Several social media users have shared the video on Twitter and Facebook with the claim: “वीडियो ज्यादा से ज्यादा वायरल करो भारत माता की जय बोलने वाले एक बुजुर्ग सरदार जी को कितनी बेरहमी से यह मुस्लिम युवक पीट रहे हैं इनकी गिरफ्तारी होनी चाहिए” (Translated: Make this video viral as much as possible, an old sardar who was chanting bharat mata ki jai, was beaten mercilessly by a group of Muslims. They should be arrested)
The Quint received a query about the claim via its WhatsApp Helpline.
TRUE OR FALSE?
The claim with which this video is being shared is not entirely true. The incident took place in Azad Chowk market of Bhilwara district in Rajasthan on 15 October. The man being beaten up is not a Sikh, but belongs to the Sindhi community, according to Harendra Kumar, SP, Bhilwara district.
He also denied any communal angle to incident and said that the people who beat him up are local shopkeepers who are Sindhis and Hindus. “One of them might be a Muslim,” he added.
WHAT WE FOUND OUT
We found that the video was shared by Delhi MLA Manjinder Sirsa on his Facebook account, and said that it is from Rajasthan’s Bhilwara district.
Harendra Kumar, SP, Bhilwara district told The Quint that the incident took place on 15 October.
“The old man seen in the video is Hotchand, who is not a Sikh, but belongs to the Sindhi community. The incident took place in Azad Chowk area where local shopkeepers beat the old man because he allegedly used to extort money from them.”Harendra Kumar, SP, Bhilwara district
The police official further said that the people who attacked the old man belong to the Sindhi and Hindu community. “One of them might be a Muslim but there is no communal angle to the incident,” he added.
A case was registered and as many as five people were arrested. As per the FIR accessed by BOOM , the five accused have been identified as Manoj alias Mulla Sindhi (39), Hemant Nathani (45), Bhagwan Das (37), Majoor Sheikh (31), and Irfan (34).
Dilshad Khan, a local journalist, told The Quint that the old man by the name of ‘Hotu’ alias Hotchand was abusing people in the Azad Chowk market. As the local shopkeepers intervened and tried to stop him, he slapped one of them. Dilshad went on to say that this triggered the response shopkeepers, who started beating Hotu.
“This is not the first time that Hotu abused people in the market. Earlier too, he has been doing this, and has been beaten before.”Dilshad Khan, Local Journalist
The police official also informed that Hotchand was arrested recently for attacking his brother. The Bhilwara jail doctor told The Quint that Hotchand is currently in jail and has an “adjustment disorder.”
(UPDATE: The story has been updated with the names of the people who were accused in the case.)
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