Video of Man Being Beaten In Punjab Shared as One From UP With Communal Spin

Local police in Sangrur confirmed to The Quint that the incident had no religious angle and was a "personal matter."

Fact-Check: This video is from Punjab and has no religious angle to it, as claimed.

(Source: Altered by The Quint) 

A graphic video showing a man being beaten with rods is being shared on social media platforms to claim that it showed "anti-evangelicals harassing God's servants in Uttar Pradesh."

An archive of the post can be found here. 

(Source: X/Screenshot) 

(Archives of similar claims can be found here and here.)

Is this true?: No, the claim is false.

• The video is from Sangrur, Punjab where one Sonu Kumar was beaten by some people by iron rods.

• Local police officials in Sangrur confirmed to The Quint that the incident had no religious angle and was a "personal matter between neighbours."

How did we find out?: At first, we divided the viral video into multiple keyframes and ran a Google reverse image search on some of them.

• We came across two news reports by the Punjab Kesari and the Hindustan Times from February 2023. The cover images in these reports matched with the frames in the viral video.

Here are the similarities between the two. 

(Source: Altered by The Quint) 

Here are the similarities between the two. 

(Source: Altered by The Quint) 

• Both reports noted that Sonu Kumar had been assaulted with iron rods by three men in Sangrur, Punjab.

What happened?: With a relevant keyword search, we came across reports by The Indian Express and The Times of India from February 2023.

• The Indian Express reported that Sonu Kumar was on his motorcycle with his son Buta Singh. The two were on their way to bring a water heater from his father's house.

• When they reached Bajigar Basti, Malkit Kaur, the mother of one Mani Singh, gathered people and urged them to "teach Sonu a lesson."

• Sonu told the police that he was attacked by iron rods.

• Speaking to TOI, the victim's wife said that the accused had attacked her husband four years back when they objected them to stop using drugs in the vacant space next to their house.

Local police sources in the Jagatpura Basti (where the incident took place) in Sangrur confirmed to The Quint that the "fight was not over any religious matter." Rather, it was a personal matter between neighbours. A matter had been registered in the court and the accused were arrested.

Conclusion: The video is not from Uttar Pradesh but from Punjab. It does not show a Christian man being beaten by a mob.

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