Old Video From West Bengal Passed Off as Recent and With Misleading Context

We found that the video dates back to 2014, when students carried out a 'Kiss of Love' event in Kolkata.

Fact-Check | The video is old and is being shared with a misleading context.

(Photo: Altered by The Quint)

(Trigger Warning: Mention of ragging and harassment)

A video which shows several people hugging and kissing each other is being shared on the internet with a claim that it happened recently in West Bengal's Jadavpur University.

What are users claiming?: Those sharing the video have uploaded it with a caption saying, "Kissing festival at Jadavpur University. Now, you can understand why these students are oppose CCTV..".

An archive of the post can be found here.

(Source: Facebook/Screenshot)

We received a query about the video on our WhatsApp tipline.

(You can view archives of more such claims here, here, and here.)

Why is the claim being shared?: A 17-year-old student lost his life after falling from the hostel building's balcony over alleged ragging. The minor was pursuing his Bengali Honours from Jadavpur University.

• Three people have been arrested in connection with the case.

• The interim vice-chancellor Buddhadeb Sau announced several anti-ragging measures, including installing CCTV cameras at the gates of hostels.

• Following the announcement, according to reports, the student's union of the engineering and technology faculty said that they would "oppose any surveillance measures" that can hamper free atmosphere and movements of students on the campus.

What is the truth?: While the video is reportedly from West Bengal's Jadavpur, it dates back to 2014 and is being shared with a misleading context. This was during the Kolkata edition of the 'Kiss of Love' event against moral policing and to promote gender sensitisation.

How did we find out?: We performed a keyword search on YouTube and came across a video, carrying similar visuals, uploaded on the verified channel of Bengali news channel ABP Ananda.

• The video was uploaded on 6 November 2014.

• It was titled, "public kissing to protest moral policing at Kolkata."

• We found a video which carried similar visuals as the viral one uploaded on the official channel of Zee 24 Ghanta.

What were the protests about?: According to The Hindu, students from different educational institutions of Kolkata organised the 'Kiss of Love' event to express solidarity with the people of Kochi.

• The event in Kochi was held to protest against moral policing and police harassment at public places in the city.

• The Times of India published a report which said that the event was carried out by students of two universities in Kolkata "to protest moral policing and promote gender sensitisation."

The report was published on 6 November 2014.

(Source: Times of India/Screenshot)

Conclusion: The video dates back to 2014 and is being shared with a misleading context on social media platforms.

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