CLAIM
A video where a man’s tongue and fingers are being chopped off has been circulating on social media. The gruesome video shows a group of men holding the victim and proceeding to dismember his tongue and his fingers.
The Quint received the 1:50-second clip to ascertain its authenticity and the location where the incident took place.
WHAT IS THE TRUTH?
The incident did not take place in India. It is from Venezuela’s El Callao where a man’s fingers and tongue were cut off and his eyes gouged out.
WHAT WE FOUND OUT
A Google reverse image search led us to a similar image of the incident, through which we found a tweet about the incident.
According to the tweet put out by a journalist named German Dam, the incident took place in Venezuela. Another journalist from Venezuela tweeted about the same incident, where a 19-year-old boy’s eyes were gouged out, and his fingers and his tongue were cut.
We looked up the claims made in the tweet, to find if they were true or not. According to a report by Daily Star, Leocer Jose Lugo Maiz (19), was found by the Venezuelan Army during a raid on the illegal Yin Yan gold mine.
Once serving in the Army, Maiz was declared a ‘deserter’. Further, the report suggested that he, among others, had been trying to subsist on illicit gold mining. Upon being caught by the Army, Maiz’s eyes were gouged out and his tongue and his fingers cut.
He was later taken to Dr Juan German Roscio Hospital in El Callao for treatment.
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