A video is being widely shared on social media in which a man is seen filling a glass of water and spitting into it. The video also has a background voice suggesting that the video is from Aligarh where the man in the video is a clerk, spitting in a glass of water before serving it to a judicial officer.
A social media user shared the video with the claim that the man in the video belongs to a Muslim community.
The caption reads, “A brand new video of spit jihad (of July 2024) from Aligarh Court. Even the judges of the court became victims of spit jihad. (translated from Hindi)”
SouthCheck found that the claim was false. The man in the viral video is not a Muslim.
On doing a Google reverse image search, we found the same video uploaded by Nation One News on May 29, 2018.
The video had the same voiceover which suggested that a peon in Aligarh’s court was caught on camera spitting in the water before serving it to a senior. It further said that the accused was suspended over this heinous act.
On searching with appropriate keywords, we found the same video uploaded by The Times of India on May 29, 2018. The report associated with the video stated that it shows Vikas Gupta, a Class 4 employee, serving water to a lady civil judge after spitting in the glass. Gupta was terminated instantly after the matter came to light.
ABP Live had also done a story on this on May 28, 2018. The news reports identified the peon as Vikas Gupta.
Hence, we can ascertain that the viral claim is misleading and there is no communal angle involved.