A video showing a boy who seems to be dressed in a school uniform being beaten by two men is being shared on social media platforms.
What is the claim?: Those sharing the video have claimed that Vishnu, a Dalit boy, was beaten for showering flowers during the Ram Mandir Utsav in Ayodhya, Uttar Pradesh.
(Note: We have refrained from adding the archives of this claim due to its graphic nature.)
Here is a copy of the claim.
(Source: X (formerly Twitter)/Screenshot)
What is the truth?: This claim is false.
The video is from a Geeta Mahotsav event at Huda Convention Hall in Faridabad, Haryana.
It shows a class nine student of Gaunchi government school in Faridabad, who was beaten by two school teachers for showering flowers at the event.
How did we find out?: We divided the viral video into multiple keyframes and ran a Google reverse image search on some of them.
We came across a news report by Dainik Bhaskar from 23 December 2023, which was about a class nine student of Gaunchi government school being beaten by his teachers at a Geeta Jayanti event in Faridabad.
The report noted that school teachers named Ravi Mohan and Kamal had accused the child of 'throwing flowers at girls.' Following this, they beat him badly.
The news report also noted the statement of the school's principal who termed the teachers' action as "completely wrong."
It also included a video as well. We matched the frames of the viral video with Dainik Bhaskar and found similarities.
Here are the similarities between the two.
(Source: Altered by The Quint)
What did the FIR say?: The Quint accessed the First Information Report (FIR) that was registered at the Faridabad Central police station on 25 December 2023 by the child's father.
The victim's father told the police that his son was taken for the Geeta Mahotsav at Hooda Convention Hall in Faridabad. There were several other students present as well.
Flowers were being showered and the victim also picked up a flower from the ground. Following this, he was beaten by the accused.
The father stated that the child was hurt and his medical was done at the government hospital in Ballabhgarh on 23 December 2023.
The victim's father further said that he was intimated against taking action by the accused. The accused also threatened to kill the father and to make his child's video viral on the internet.
A case has been registered against the teachers under various sections of the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act and the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
Speaking to the victim's parent: The Quint spoke to the child's mother about the incident.
The mother also dismissed the claim that the child was from the Dalit community and said that "their family belongs to the Brahmin community".
According to the mother, during the celebrations, there were several students from different schools. There were groups of girls and boys dancing and one such group of boys started showering flowers.
The teachers got to know that some ruckus was created. However, the boys' group that showered flowers went away from the sight.
However, the victim was picking up a flower from the ground at that time and was then beaten by the two teachers.
What did the police say?: Faridabad police spokesperson Sube Singh told the media that the incident occurred on 22 December 2023 during the Geeta Mahotsav celebrations.
The police stated that the teachers thrashed the child because he threw a flower that allegedly hit one of the teachers which angered them. The police said that further investigation is underway.
Ayodhya Police clarifies on their official handle: Taking to X, the Ayodhya police dismissed the viral claim and termed it "false."
They also wrote that the Ayodhya district police investigated and found that the video was from a function in Faridabad, Haryana.
Conclusion: Clearly, this video is being shared with a false claim of a Dalit boy beaten for throwing flowers at the Ram Temple in Ayodhya. This video is actually from Faridabad of a child beaten by two school teachers.
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