Buddhist monks, activists, and organisations began protests on 12 February 2025 in Bodh Gaya, demanding full control of the Mahabodhi Temple, which is currently managed by a joint Hindu-Buddhist committee under a 1949 law (here, here and here). Amid this, a video (here, here and here) has gone viral on social media, claiming to show police kicking a Buddhist monk on a public road in Bihar in connection with the Bodh Gaya agitation. Let’s investigate the authenticity of this video and uncover the truth.
Claim: The viral video shows police in Bihar, India, kicking a Buddhist monk during the Bodh Gaya protest demanding full control of the Mahabodhi Temple.
Fact: The video was actually filmed in Kathmandu, Nepal, during a clash on 06 April 2024, between police and members of the National Liberation Movement near Singha Durbar. Reports confirm that Kathmandu police decided to take departmental action against the officer involved in the incident. The video is unrelated to the Bodh Gaya protest, which began on 12 February 2025. Hence, the claim is FALSE.
To verify the claim, we conducted a reverse image search on Google, which led us to the same video posted on a Facebook page named MAYA, a music page. The video was uploaded on 08 April 2024, with the caption: “Buddha devotees have no respect in a nation where Buddha was born.” This suggests that the incident may have occurred in Nepal, as Buddha was born in Lumbini, Nepal. Additionally, we noticed that some versions of the viral video contain a watermark reading “Nepal Khabar,” further indicating that the incident likely took place in Nepal, not Bihar.
Further research led us to a YouTube video by Sagarmatha TV, a Nepali television channel. The video, uploaded on 07 April 2024, has a Hindi caption that reads: “Police attack on Buddhist monk in Kathmandu, Buddhist monk was beaten like this, religious organisation is outraged.” The footage shows multiple visuals of police dispersing a protest in Kathmandu, Nepal. At timestamp 00:11, we can see the viral clip where a police officer is seen kicking a monk, confirming that the incident took place in Nepal, not Bihar as claimed in the viral posts.
Further research about the incident led us to multiple news reports (here and here). According to The Print, on 06 April 2024, in Kathmandu, Nepal, a clash broke out between police and members of the National Liberation Movement, led by Madhesh-based leader Rajendra Mahato, during a march demanding ethnic-based state recognition. Protesters pushed down barricades near Singha Durbar, leading to stone-pelting and police using water cannons. Another report states that Kathmandu police have decided to take departmental action against the officer who kicked the monk in the viral video.
Meanwhile, protests are being held in Bodh Gaya, Bihar, India, by Buddhist monks, activists, and organisations demanding full control of the Mahabodhi Temple (here, here and here). However, the viral video has no connection to this protest.
To sum up, an unrelated video from Nepal, showing police kicking a Buddhist monk, is falsely shared as an incident from Bodh Gaya, India.
