Video Editor: Prashant Chauhan
A viral video showing a man kicking and physically assaulting a woman is being shared amid the coronavirus pandemic with the claim that the man seen in the video is DMK leader Selvakumar.
While the claim mentions that the woman seen in the video is a doctor on duty, however, she is the owner of a beauty parlour in Tamil Nadu’s Perambalur area. The incident dates back to 2018 and the police had then arrested Selvakumar and remanded him.
CLAIM
The claim shared along with the video reads: “Tamilnadu DMK party Leader Selva Kumar kicked Lady Doctor on duty. Forward this Video to all group until he will be punished (sic)”
Several social media users have shared the video on Facebook with the same claim.
WHAT WE FOUND OUT
The viral video mentioned a website called ‘puthiyathalaimurai.com’. On searching the media outlet’s YouTube channel, we found that the visuals seen in the viral video were uploaded on 12 September 2018.
In one of the videos uploaded by a Facebook user, we found that the date stamp of the footage mentioned ‘2018.’ However, the date and month could not be ascertained due to lack of clarity.
According to an article published by The News Minute on 13 September 2018, the man seen in the video is indeed DMK leader S Selvakumar. However, the woman being assaulted in the video is not a doctor but owner of a beauty parlour in Tamil Nadu.
The police had then mentioned that the incident took place in May 2018 at the Mayuri Beauty Parlour in Perambalur Old Bus Stand. The owner of the parlour, Sathya, allegedly had financial dealings with Selvakumar, who ran a furniture shop in Perambalur.
The former Perambalur district functionary had then visited the parlour to discuss some monetary transactions with Sathya and the arguments turned violent, with Selvakumar brutally kicking and assaulting Sathya.
The police also told that Sathya filed a complaint only in September, months after the assault. Based on the complaint, the police had then arrested Selvakumar and remanded him, the TNM report added.
DMK on 30 November 2018 had reinstated Selvakumar who was suspended from the party following the September incident.
Evidently, while the incident did happen but it took place in September 2018 and the woman seen in the video is not a doctor but owner of a beauty parlour in Tamil Nadu’s Perambalur.
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