A video is being widely shared on social media in which a group of people are seen beating two men. The video is being shared with the claim that the two persons are from a marginalised community and were attacked by members of an upper caste for entering the temple premises.
An X premium account shared the video with the caption, “Two people from the Shudra community were thrashed for entering a temple. Why do you go to their temples when they do not accept you as Hindus? (translated from Hindi)”
SouthCheck found the claim to be false. We found no communal angle involved in the story.
On searching with appropriate keywords, we found the same video uploaded by Dainik Bhaskar on March 28. The title of the report was ‘People entered the temple and beat up temple volunteers over a dispute about bike collision. (translated from Hindi)’ The report associated with the video suggested that a video went viral in which some people went inside the temple and started beating the temple volunteers.
The news outlet Hindustan also published the report on March 28, 2024, with a similar title. According to the report, some people went inside the Linepar Mata Mandir in Moradabad, Uttar Pradesh, under the limits of Majhona police station and started thrashing volunteers who take care of the temple’s cleanliness.
The report further said that on March 25, the temple volunteers were crossing the road when some bike riders abused them. Since police were present at that time the issue came under control. However, once these volunteers went inside the temple, the attackers returned and attacked them, which was captured on the temple’s CCTVs.
The report was also covered by Amar Ujala.
We also spoke to KK Verma, the SHO of the Majhona police station, who confirmed that both groups belonged to the same community and that the attack on the two persons was not motivated by any caste issues.
Hence, we conclude that the video is being falsely shared with a fake caste angle.
