A video is being widely shared on social media in which a man is seen washing clothes in a muddy pothole in the middle of a road.
The video is shared with a caption suggesting that the video is from Tamil Nadu and shows a man protesting the bad condition of the road.
A social media user shared the video with a caption that reads, “Incompetent DMK government, a novel protest to repair the main road! #DMK_HarmfulToNationAndHome #ThievingDMK #ByeByeStalin” (Translated from Tamil)
SouthCheck found that the viral claim is misleading. The viral video is from Puducherry.
On a Google reverse image search, we found a different video of the same man washing clothes in a muddy puddle on a Facebook page, Pondy Mirror, with a caption that reads, “Rainwater pooled on a potholed road - social activist engaged in an innovative protest by washing clothes.”
We further found that a screenshot of the video was also shared by a website called Dinamalar on August 19. The report associated with the image suggests that social activist Sutta Sundarajan caused a stir when he staged a ‘clothes washing protest’ to protest the potholes and puddles on the road.
Moreover, a closer view of the viral video shows a board in the background that mentions, Department of Puducherry, Government Central Press.
We also found the building on Google Maps.
We also contacted Suchendra from Pondy Express Media, who confirmed that the viral video is from the Thattanchavady area in Pundicherry, where Sutta Sundarajan washed clothes to mark his protest against the poor road conditions.
Therefore, we can ascertain that the viral claim is misleading.
