No, This Video Does Not Show a Child Being Beaten Up at 'RSS Training Camp'

This video is from Uttar Pradesh and does not show RSS training children.

(Trigger warning: Distressing & violent visuals.)

A video showing a man beating up a kid violently with sticks while other children are watching in the background is going viral on social media to claim that this incident is from a Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) training camp.

(Note: We have refrained from adding links to the claim due to the distressing nature of the content.)

What's the truth?: According to the SHO at Sidhauli police station, this video shows a Sanskrit teacher beating a student at Gurukul (Sanskrit school) located in Sidhauli in Uttar Pradesh's Sitapur.

• It is being falsely linked with the RSS.

How did we find out the truth?: We performed a reverse image search on some of the keyframes of the video which led us to some Hindi reports shared on 9 October 2023.

• An article by Dainik Bhaskar carried screengrabs from the viral video and stated that the video shows a teacher brutally beating a student at a Sanskrit school in Sitapur, Uttar Pradesh.

• Another report by Aaj Tak also carried the viral video.

• Taking a cue, we performed a relevant keyword search and came across a post on the X (formerly Twitter) account of Sitapur Police.

• In the video, CO Sadar Shri Raju Kumar Saav clarifies that police have taken the teacher, Satish Joshi, into custody.

थाना सिधौली क्षेत्रांतर्गत शिक्षक/आचार्य द्वारा छात्र की पिटाई के प्रकरण में दि.08.10.23 को सुसंगत धाराओ में अभियोग पंजीकृत है,आरोपी को हिरासत में लेकर नियमानुसार विधिक कार्यवाही की जा रही है।इस संबंध में सीओ सदर श्री राजू कुमार साव द्वारा दी गयी बाइट-@Uppolice @CMOfficeUP pic.twitter.com/Lg9TdNT1mV

— Sitapur Police (@sitapurpolice) October 9, 2023

We reached out to the police for more details: According to Sidhauli police station's SHO RK Singh, the video shows Satish Joshi, a teacher at Kishori Sanskrit School who was brutally thrashing one of his students.

• The police arrested Joshi after the video went viral.

• Singh clarified that this video is not from an RSS camp but from a Gurukul.

Conclusion: A video from Uttar Pradesh showing a teacher beating a student at a Sanskrit school is being falsely linked to RSS.

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