CLAIM
A video showing a mob brutally beat up an army personnel in Kashmir is viral on social media, with The Quint receiving a query about the same on its WhatsApp number.
The video is also viral on Facebook with the claim the the soldier was brutally beaten to death by the locals. The message reads:
"दोस्तों इंसानियत के नाते आपसे हाथ जोड़कर विनती है की यह विड़ीयो ज्यादा से ज्यादा ग्रुप में भेजना है कल शाम तक हरेक न्यूज़ चैनल में आना चाहिए
कश्मीर में आज फिर एक सैनिक को पिट पिट कर हत्या कर दी गई
कोई माई का लाल हीं इसे शेयर करेगा"
(Translated: Today, a soldier was again mercilessly beaten to death in Kashmir. Friends, it’s a humble request to you, please share this video in maximum groups. By tomorrow evening it should come on every news channel.)
TRUE OR FALSE?
The video is of an incident from October 2017, and the soldier was not beaten to death as claimed, but severely injured from the incident.
The soldier, who belonged to the Territorial Army, was suspected to be a braid-chopper by the mob, and was hence assaulted, according to reports.
WHAT WE FOUND OUT
A reverse image search of one of the key frames from the article led us to a video on the incident by local news organisation Greater Kashmir, which stated that the attack took place in October 2017.
The viral video was also carried by Times Now, who stated that the incident took place in Kupwara, and that the soldier was thrashed after locals alleged that he was involved in braid-chopping.
According to Greater Kashmir, the locals thrashed the soldier after a woman's braid was chopped off in Kupwara’s Reddi Chowkibal area. Soon after clashes erupted in the area, with the army and police attempting to rescue the soldier from the locals’ grasp.
The Valley was gripped by a fear of braid-chopping incidents around that time, with over 100 reports of alleged incidents having been reported from the region.
PREVIOUSLY DEBUNKED VIDEO
This video was viral with the same claim in May 2018 as well, and Alt News had debunked the video then.
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