CLAIM
A video shared on social media shows two men mercilessly beating another man in a crowded locality. One of the men can be seen jumping on his chest and shouting “Jai Shri Ram”.
Multiple users on social media shared the video claiming that the incident took place in Bihar’s Kaimur district and the man was beaten up because he was a ‘Christian evangelist’.
The Quint received a query about the video on its WhatsApp helpline number.
While some are claiming that the man being beaten in the video is a Kashmiri Muslim who is allegedly being thrashed by “RSS Hindutva Nazi goons.”
The video was also shared by a leader of the Communist Party of India (CPI) and former member of the Lok Sabha, Md Salim, who claimed that the video was from West Bengal.
(Disclaimer: The Quint has withheld the video due to its graphic nature.)
The video was also shared on Facebook with multiple people commenting on the link, giving it a communal colour by claiming that the man was a Muslim and was beaten for his religious beliefs.
The caption shared with this video also mentioned that the incident occurred in Bihar’s Kaimur district.
It was uploaded by a Facebook user ‘Zahid Khan’ and at the time of writing the story, the video had acquired 5 million views and had been shared over 4,80,000 times.
WHAT’S THE TRUTH?
The Quint got in touch with the Superintendent of Police (SP) of Kaimur district, Dilnawaz Ahmed, who dismissed any communal angle to the story. He said that the man was being beaten because he had allegedly shot somebody.
Ahmed also added that the man seen in the video was sent to jail after he was given due medical attention. “An FIR has been registered against the person seen beating him in the video.”
We also got in touch with a local reporter who gave us more details of the incident. He identified the man who was beaten as Shahid Rayin. According to the reporter, Rayin, who is the son of a local councilor had shot another man, Madhav Singh, over a land dispute.
After Rayin shot Singh, the locals in the area caught him and beat him up. The man seen in the video beating him was identified as Uttam Patel, who belongs to a local Hindu outfit.
So, neither did the incident happen in West Bengal nor was the man beaten for his religious beliefs.
(Update: The story has been updated with a viral tweet that is making false claims)
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