A video showing police officers beating women on a street at night is going viral on social media, with claims that the incident took place in Uttar Pradesh. Let’s investigate the truth behind this video.
Claim: The viral video shows police attacking women at night in Uttar Pradesh.
Fact: The video is not from Uttar Pradesh but from Panagudi in Tirunelveli district, Tamil Nadu, where police clashed with transgender individuals protesting outside a police station. Hence the claim is FALSE.
To verify the truth behind the viral video, we performed a reverse image search using the keyframes, which led us to the same video uploaded by a Tamil Facebook page named Kumarians Sangam on 25 September 2024. According to this post, the incident occurred at the Panagudi police station in Tamil Nadu after a group of transgenders allegedly demanded money from a passerby near the Kavalkinaru–Nagercoil National Highway (NH 44). Following an argument with the police, transgender individuals reportedly gathered at the station, threw stones, and damaged property. The situation escalated when one person disrobed in protest, prompting police to use a lathi-charge to disperse the crowd.
Another result led us to a YouTube news report by NewsTamil 24X7, uploaded on 25 September 2024, which featured the same video. The report mentioned that the incident took place in Tirunelveli, Tamil Nadu, where a group of transgender people protested. The Tamil caption of the video reads “Police lathicharge on transgenders… NewsTamil 24X7 | Tirunelveli | Police.” We also found additional videos showing the same setting, confirming it is the same incident (here and here).
Further search led us to several news reports about the incident (here and here). According to Tamil media, more than 50 transgender individuals protested outside Panagudi police station near Valliyur in Tirunelveli (Nellai) district, Tamil Nadu, after two trans women were detained for allegedly extorting people on the Nellai-Kanyakumari highway (NH 44). Police stated they were only questioning the two and asked the crowd to leave. When the protestors refused, a clash broke out, leading to a police lathi-charge. Videos showing the police beating a half-naked transgender woman running went viral on social media.
Additionally, a manual keyword search for recent incidents of police attacking women in Uttar Pradesh yielded no relevant results. This confirms that the viral video is not from UP, as claimed, but from Panagudi in Tirunelveli district, Tamil Nadu.
To sum up, an old video of police lathi-charging transgender people in Tamil Nadu is falsely shared as showing police attacking women in Uttar Pradesh.
