No, This Girl Wasn't Injured in Stone-Pelting by a Muslim Mob in Karnataka

Due to stress, the girl in the video started feeling unwell and was assisted out of the college.

The claim states that amid the Karnataka Hijab row, a Hindu girl was injured in stone-pelting by a Muslim mob.

(Photo: Altered by The Quint)

A video of a man carrying a school student in his hands, along with others who were running with him, is being shared on social media with a claim stating that a young Hindu girl was injured in stone-pelting by a Muslim mob in Karnataka.

The video comes in the backdrop of the hijab-saffron row that has erupted in several parts of the state.

However, we found that the claim is false. The girl seen in the video was at the Government Pre University College in Rabakavi Banahatti in Bagalkot district when protests had erupted in front of the college on Tuesday, 8 February.

Due to stress, she started feeling unwell and was about to faint when she was assisted out of the college.

Further, Superintendent of Police Lokesh Jagalasar told The Quint that the girl was not a stone-pelting victim, neither was she assaulted in any way.

CLAIM

Hindi news channel Sudarshan News, which has been called out for spreading disinformation multiple times, shared the video along with the claim in Hindi that reads, "हिजाब के समर्थन में हुई पत्थरबाजी में घायल हुई छात्रा हिजाब के समर्थन के नाम पर कर्नाटक को कश्मीर बनाने की कोशिश, बरसाए पत्थर !"

(Translation: Student injured in stone-pelting incident in Karnataka. In the guise of support for Hijab, efforts are being made to turn Karnataka into Kashmir, stones were pelted.)

The video has over 38,000 views at the time of writing this article.

An archive of the tweet can be seen here. 

(Source: Twitter/Screenshot)

Several social media users have shared the video along with similar claims and the archived versions can be seen here, here, and here.

WHAT WE FOUND OUT

While searching on Twitter with relevant keywords we found a video posted by journalist Deepak Bopanna.

The tweet read that the girl was exhausted and nearly fainted after which she was taken outside the college campus. The incident happened in Rabakavi-Banhatti towns in the Bagalkot district of Karnataka.

Next, we looked for news reports to find out if stone-pelting incident had taken place in the area.

A report by The Hindu published on 8 February read that students had protested in front of the Government Pre-University College in Rabakavi Banahatti in Bagalkot district. Stone pelting took place because of which a male student was hurt.

Story from 8 February. 

(Source: The Hindu/Screenshot)

We also found news reports by The New Indian Express and The Times of India, which talked about the stone-pelting incident that took place in front of the college in the Bagalkot district.

Further, we reached out to a local journalist who confirmed to The Quint that the girl had not eaten since the morning due to which she was feeling unwell and fatigued, following which she had nearly collapsed.

We also spoke to an eye-witness, who didn't wish to be named, but corroborated the local journalist's statement.

Next, we got in touch with Bagalkot Superintendent of Police (SP) Lokesh Jagalasar who told The Quint that the girl was feeling unwell and the protests outside caused stress, following which she had collapsed and was taken outside the college.

"The student wasn't a victim of stone pelting, nor was she assaulted in anyway," Jagalasar said.

Clearly, the video of a girl collapsing is being shared on social media with an anti-Muslim narrative, amid the Karnataka hijab row.

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