(Editor's Note: The story was first published on 27 February 2020 and is being republished from The Quint's archives in the light of the video recirculating with the claim that it is recent.)
CLAIM
As the violence in Northeast Delhi spread across different parts on Sunday, 23 February, a video started doing the rounds on the internet which showed a mob attacking a man and beating him brutally.
The claim which was in Tamil read, “உங்களால் முடியும் என்றால்.. உணர்வுகளை கட்டுப்படுத்திக் கொண்டு தொடர்ந்து பாருங்கள்.
டெல்லியில் RSS வன்முறை.” [Translation: If you can, control your feelings and continue watching. The violence of RSS in Delhi.]
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The video is being massively circulated on Twitter and Facebook.
(Note: The Quint has decided to not use the video due to its graphic nature.)
The Quint received a query about the claim being made about the video on its WhatsApp helpline number.
TRUE OR FALSE?
False. The video is not from the Delhi violence but from Dhar in Madhya Pradesh. One farmer was killed while five others were injured by a mob amid rumours that a gang of child-lifters was present in the area.
An FIR was reportedly registered under IPC Sec 302 (Punishment for murder) and 307 (Attempt to murder). Four people, including Ramesh, the sarpanch of Junapani village, were arrested.
WHAT WE FOUND OUT
We searched on YouTube with relevant keywords and found a NDTV bulletin uploaded on 6 February with the caption “1 Dead As 6 Farmers Attacked Over Child Lifting Rumours In Madhya Pradesh,” that carried the same visuals as that of the viral video.
The Quint, too, had reported that a monetary dispute between the victims, who are all farmers from Ujjain, and labour contractors led to an altercation.
Reportedly, the farmers had been called to Khadkiya village with a promise to repay the money they had paid in advance for hiring labourers. They had to recover Rs 1.5 lakh of the Rs 2.5 lakh paid to the contractor.
When the farmers reached the village, a dispute ensued and they were pelted with stones. Rumours of a gang of child-lifters in the area started to spread when the farmers were returning home towards Borlai. Their vehicle were stopped by a mob of around 200 people.
While one of the occupants of the car managed to escape, the remaining six were assaulted by the mob. One vehicle was also torched by the mob.
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