Scripted video made for educational purposes is passed off with a Love Jihad narrative - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
December 22, 2021
A social media post with a video showing a group of men confronting a young man is being shared widely across platforms. The video shows the young man accompanied by a girl dressed in a school uniform. The post claims that the visuals show Muslim men trapping minor Hindu girls alluding to a case of Love Jihad. Let’s fact-check the claim made in the post and the veracity of the video.
Claim: Video of Hindu men catching hold of a Muslim man who trapped a minor Hindu girl in the name of love.
Fact: This is a scripted video made for awareness purposes. The lengthier version of the video carries a disclaimer stating that the video is a fictional work. There are many such awareness videos featuring the same young man and the girl that were created to spread awareness regarding different aspects. Hence, the claim made in the post is FALSE.
Facebook search with relevant keywords led us to a slightly lengthier version of the same video shared on a Facebook page named Deepika Shah. However, the lengthier version carries a disclaimer at the end of the video which reads ‘this video is fictional work and meant for awareness purpose. And all characters are fictitious. Any harm cause to any person through this video is purely coincidental.’ With this, it is evident the viral visuals do not show any real incident.
Further, many such awareness videos are shared through this account. Few such awareness videos (here, here, and here) feature the same girl and the young man who are seen in the viral video reiterating the fact that the viral video is scripted.
Lately, there has been a growing trend of verified accounts (here, here, and here) sharing such scripted videos made for educational purposes. However, miscreants are sharing these videos as real incidents by editing out the disclaimer part of the original video which is also the case in this particular video. Sometimes, these scripted videos are also being shared with sensitive communal claims. FACTLY has earlier debunked such videos which can be seen here, here, and here.
To sum it up, scripted video made for educational purposes is passed off with a Love Jihad narrative.