A viral video of two people being paraded naked is being shared with the false claim that it is from Uttar Pradesh’s Deoria and the two Dalits were mercilessly thrashed because they did not come to cut the crops.
However, the incident happened in 2017 in Rajasthan’s Banswara district, when a 20-year-old tribal man and his cousin, a girl, who were allegedly in a relationship fled the village. The heinous act, that took place in Shambhupura village, was carried out by the tribal villagers after a khap-like diktat was issued.
CLAIM
The claim along with the video reads: “ये देवरिया के सकरापार कि घटना है दलित के लड़के और लड़की को निर्वस्त्र कर मार रहे है. फसल काटने नही आए सिर्फ इसलिए युवक और युवती को निर्दयता से निर्वस्त्र कर पिटाई की गई. समझ नहीं आता की ये योगी महाराज किस रामराज्य की बात कर सत्ता को हथियाए हैं ??”
(Translated: This incident took place in Deoria’s Sakrapaar where a Dalit boy and girl were paraded naked and beaten. They were mercilessly beaten only because they didn’t come to cut the crops. Not able to understand that which Ram Rajya is Yogi talking about.)
Several Facebook users have shared the video with the same narrative.
WHAT WE FOUND OUT
We reverse-searched multiple keyframes of the video on Google along with relevant keywords and one of them led us to a 2017 article published by Tez News.
The article carried visuals of the viral video and mentioned that it was earlier viral with the claim that it is from Gujarat. However, the incident is from Shambhupura village in Rajasthan, the report added.
Further, Devi Lal, SHO Kalinjara, Rajasthan told The Quint that the incident is old and is being falsely claimed to be from Deoria.
“This happened in Shambhupura village in April 2017 and as many as 24 people had been arrested then. It is being falsely circulated on social media now saying that it’s a recent incident,” he said.
WHAT HAD HAPPENED IN 2017?
The Quint, too, had then reported about the incident when a video of a couple belonging to the Bhil (tribal) community being thrashed and then paraded naked in Rajasthan went viral.
The heinous act, that took place in Shambhupura village in Banswara district, was carried out by the tribal villagers after a khap-like diktat was issued.
The victims were a 20-year-old tribal male and his girl cousin who were allegedly in a relationship. The two had fled to Gujarat to escape the wrath of their respective families. But they were brought back to the village, after which several villagers took over.
Police had then said that they learnt of this incident only after the video went viral. Anand Sharma, Superintendent of Police, Banswara had said that the villagers are a tight-woven group and after meting out 'justice' in their own method, they allowed no word to slip out.
Several organisations including NDTV, Hindustan Times and Deccan Chronicle had reported about the incident in 2017.
Evidently, an old incident where a couple was paraded naked for eloping in Rajasthan was falsely claimed as Dalit boy and girl beaten for not cutting crops in Uttar Pradesh’s Deoria.
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