New Delhi: A video of molestation of a young woman is doing the rounds of social media, with false claims that it is from Kerala.
Several users have shared the video on Twitter and Facebook, claiming the victim is Hindu and such incidents happen regularly in the state because the community is in “minority”.
In the video clip, a man is seen manhandling the woman, dragging and pulling her, and tearing her clothes. The victim is seen crying and pleading the accused to stop even as he continues groping and trying to disrobe her. There is another girl present who is seen trying to stop the crime, but in vain.
One such tweet, by a handle named Paras Gupta, had 3,700 retweets before Twitter took it down over violation of the microblogging site’s rules.
“Video of molesting Hindu women in Kerala, this is not the first video to go viral. This type of phenomenon keeps happening every day, the main reason is that Hindus are a minority,” read the post by Gupta.
The other tweets are still there on Twitter.
केरल में हो रही हिन्दू महिलाओं से छेड़छाड़ का वीडियो यह कोई पहला वीडियो वायरल नहीं।
इस प्रकार की घटना हर दिन घटित होती रहती है इसका मुख्य कारण हिन्दुओं का अल्पसंख्यक होना है।@narendramodi @AmitShah pic.twitter.com/qQWwyP7vwP
— अमित सिंह बघेल【BJP】 (@AmitSinghBAGH) September 7, 2020
केरल में हो रही महिलाओं से छेड़छाड़ का वीडियो यह कोई पहला वीडियो वायरल नहीं इस प्रकार की घटना हर दिन घटित होती है इसका मुख्य उद्देश्य हिन्दुओं का अल्पसंख्यक होना @narendramodi @AmitShah https://t.co/IbXiJUpD2D
— Sanjay Pandey ♕ ?ℙℕ (@sanjaypande143) September 7, 2020
On Facebook too, the same clip has gone viral.
Fact check
The viral video is three years old, and is actually from Kangiri town of Prakasam district in Andhra Pradesh, not Kerala.
Three of the accused — identified as Sai, Karthik and K. Pawan — who molested the young student were arrested and charged by the Andhra police. The incident had reportedly taken place in August 2017, but the video started being circulated on Facebook and WhatsApp in September 2017.
The claim that Hindus are in a minority in Kerala is also false, according to Census 2011 data. Hindus form 55 per cent of Kerala population.
In collaboration with SM Hoaxslayer.
Also read: Hijab-clad girl in viral photo with Maharashtra Police is not breaking any dress code