A video is being shared that shows visuals of a mob thrashing a man, followed by another set of visuals showing a man being killed. It is being shared as if the second half shows the same individual being killed who was thrashed earlier. Additionally, the video is being spread with the implication that it shows a Hindu victim being attacked by Muslims (here). This article aims to fact-check the claim made in the post.
Claim: Visuals depicting Muslims thrashing and lynching a Hindu.
Fact: The first part of the video depicts a mob attacking an electricity lineman in Muzaffarnagar in 2021, with no reported deaths. The second half of the video shows footage related to a murder reportedly occurring in Venezuela in 2018. Hence the claim made in the post is MISLEADING.
The viral video contains footage from two different past incidents. The first part of the video shows an incident in Uttar Pradesh, while the second part is unrelated to India. Let’s examine each part of the video separately below.
Part 1:
A reverse image search of the viral visuals led to reports about the first part of the video. According to these reports, the footage relates to an incident in Muzaffarnagar in 2021 when a mob attacked an electricity lineman named Anuj who had come to fix a fault in Sikri village, Muzaffarnagar, Uttar Pradesh.
The altercation began when locals named Salman and his brother asked Anuj to change the cable line, which he refused (here & here). This led to a fight, and later the mob attacked the lineman. The accused were identified as Muslims, but no one was killed in the incident. Muzaffarnagar police have confirmed that a case has been registered against the culprits.
Part 2:
On the other hand, the visuals of a man being killed pertain to a separate incident unrelated to the first. A reverse image search revealed reports from 2018 featuring the same footage. According to these reports, during a conflict between criminal gangs known as megabandas in Venezuela, one gang kidnapped a man from a rival gang and strangled him to death at an undisclosed location.
Several other reports describing these visuals as part of a gang war in Venezuela can be read here and here. This confirms that these visuals are not related to the earlier ones. Previously, the same visuals were shared with different claims. Factly debunked these claims, and the detailed fact-check articles can be read here and here.
To sum up, old visuals from a gang war in Venezuela are falsely linked to a separate incident reported in Muzaffarnagar.
