A video of a woman being beaten by some men is being shared as an incident from Uttar Pradesh where upper caste people beat up a Dalit woman for taking water from a well reserved for use by upper caste. However, the incident actually happened in a village in Gujarat and is being falsely given a caste angle.
CLAIM
The video shows a woman being brutally beaten by some men who not only thrash her with their hands but also beat her with a stick and pull her hair violently. The woman can be heard screaming loudly throughout the ordeal.
The message shared with the video goes: “यूपी के रामराज्य की घटना है
ऊंची जाति के कुएं से पानी निकालने वाली एक दलित महिला को ऊंची जाति वालो के कुएं से पानी भरने की सजा देते ऊंची जाति के लोग!!”
Roughly translated, it says that this is an incident from Uttar Pradesh and that a Dalit woman is receiving her just punishment for drawing water from a well reserved for use by upper caste people.
The post seen above had 1.7k shares and 27k views at the time this story was published.
Many other people also shared the post on Facebook.
The post was also seen on Twitter.
WHAT WE FOUND
On running a reverse image search on the video, we came across a report by an outlet which said that the incident had happened in Gujarat’s Chhota Udepur and the girl seen in the video was beaten up for eloping with her boyfriend.
According to the article, the girl was beaten up in front of her father after she returned home. The father reportedly filed a complaint later at the police station against the 13 people present at the scene.
We also found a bulletin by Zee News which said that the incident had happened in Chhota Udepur.
We then ran a keyword search and found more news reports about the incident, which said that it had happened in Gujarat’s Bilvant village on 21 May and she is a 16-year-old girl who had eloped with a youth from the same village. According to the report, some of the girl’s family members were also involved in the thrashing. The report also said cases were filed against 15 people for rioting, assault, criminal intimidation, sexual harassment violation of Information Technology Act and Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.
The Quint also reached out to the police, who confirmed that the incident had happened over a matter unrelated to caste.
"The claim that a Dalit woman was beaten up for drinking water from the well is false. This incident took place in Bilavat village of Chotta Udepur. The girl was beaten up by villagers for eloping with her lover. An FIR was filed and 16 people have been arrested so far,” MS Bhabor, SP Chotta Udepur said.
Therefore, it is clear that an incident from Gujarat where a minor was beaten up for eloping with a youth is being falsely shared as a story of caste violence in Uttar Pradesh.
(With inputs from SM Hoaxslayer.)
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