A widely circulated video shows a woman smoking in a temple. In the video, she lights a cigarette using the ‘aarthi’ flame and eventually slips, falls, and appears to be in pain. The video is being shared with the implication that her fall was divine punishment for her actions (here & here). This article fact-checks the claim made in the post.
Claim: Video showing a woman smoking inside a temple who eventually falls, purportedly as divine punishment.
Fact: The viral footage is not from a real incident but from a scripted video created for informative purposes. A clear disclaimer is shown in the original full-length video. The agency behind the video is known for producing such scripted content. Hence, the claim made in the post is FALSE.
The footage does show a woman lighting a cigarette in a temple, but it is scripted and not a real incident. A reverse image search of the visuals led to a similar full-length video shared on a YouTube channel called ‘3RD EYE’, known for creating entertaining and informative content.
The full-length video on this channel includes a disclaimer at the end, stating it is an informative video made to educate the public. The channel has many such scripted videos, and its Facebook page also shares similar content.
The same person and temple seen in the viral video appear in another video shared on this channel. This suggests that the viral video is not a real incident but a scripted one. FACTLY has debunked similar scripted videos earlier, these fact-checking articles can be viewed here.
To sum up, a scripted video of a girl smoking in a temple is being shared as a real incident.
