A video showing a child hitting a woman with a cricket bat after she snatched away his mobile phone is going viral on social media.
The claim states that the child harmed his mother because he wanted to use the device.
Who shared it?: Along with several social media users, news outlets like Republic Bharat, India.com and News18 Marathi also shared the video as a real incident.
An archive can be seen here.
(Source: X/Screenshot)
An archive can be seen here.
(Source: Website/Screenshot)
An archive can be seen here.
(Source: Website/Screenshot)
How did we find out the truth?: We performed a reverse image search on some of the viral video's keyframes, which led us to a Facebook post shared on 2 October.
This video was the extended version of the viral clip. At the 3:01 timestamp, it carried a disclaimer stating that it was made for entertainment and educational purposes.
The caption also included a disclaimer: "Please be aware that this page features scripted dramas and parodies as well. This short film is not for entertainment and is for educational purposes only! The characters in this video are for entertainment and educational purposes."
This video is scripted.
(Source: Facebook/Screenshot)
WebQoof has previously checked several such scripted videos and most of these were produced and shared by a page called IdeasFactory and their YouTube channel is called 3rd Eye.
So we checked these pages and found another (scripted) video shot at the same location, one can notice the photo frame, cabinet, TV and treadmill's placement is the same in both videos.
This clarifies that another video was shot at the same place with different actors and for a different script.
Conclusion: News outlets and social media users are sharing a scripted video as a real one.
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