A video is being widely shared on social media in which a crowd is seen beating a man while he lies unconscious.
The video is shared with a caption claiming that a Hindu man was lynched to death in Pakistan’s Sargodha district. The caption further suggested that the man was coming from the temple and had a tilak on his head due to which he was killed.
The video (Caution: disturbing visuals) was shared with the caption, “Latest news from Pakistan... He was returning from a Hindu temple in Sargodha, Pakistan. His only fault was that he had mistakenly applied a tilak on his forehead, due to which Jihadis beat him to death because the man was a Hindu. (sic)”
A similar post can be seen here.
SouthCheck found that the claim is false. We found that the man in the viral video was a Christian who was lynched over alleged blasphemy.
On doing a Google Reverse Image Search, we found the same video uploaded by The Free Press Journal on May 26, 2024. The caption associated with the video suggested that a Christian man in Pakistan’s Sargodha had narrowly escaped lynching after he was accused of blasphemy. The report further suggested that the shoe shop of the accused was targeted and the church in the area was also vandalised.
Taking a hint, we searched with appropriate keywords and found that Dawn English News had also reported about the incident on May 27, 2024. The report suggested that the man was accused of desecrating the Quran. Moreover, Sargodha Police had booked 44 people for their alleged involvement in mob violence against him.
Later, on June 3, 2024, Geo News reported the incident. According to the recent update, the Christian succumbed to his injuries.
Dawn News English also reported about the death of the Christian man.
Hence, we can ascertain that the man in the viral video was a Christian and not a Hindu. Moreover, he was lynched over blasphemy and not for putting tilak on his forehead.
