Video shows a procession during Charak Puja and not a punishment to rapists - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
October 28, 2022
Video of three youngsters whose backs are hooked to a moving crane is being widely shared claiming it as the punishment given to the rapists. Let’s verify the claim made in the post.
Claim: Video of the 3 youngsters hanging to crane as a part of punishment for rape.
Fact: The video shows a procession during Charak Puja, a Hindu folk festival. During Charak Puja, a select group of worshippers are strung on hooks and swung by rope from a wooden pole, a devotional act intended to satisfy the lord Shiva. This video doesn’t show any punishment given to rapists. Hence the claim made in the post is FALSE.
We ran a reverse image search using the keyframes extracted from the viral image and found that the same video was uploaded on ‘Josh App’ by a user named ‘Akhilesh Parjpatie’ with the caption “Har Har Mahadev”. However, the users who reposted the same video shared it as a punishment for rapists.
Taking a cue from this, we searched more about this kind of event and found that it is a part of Charak Puja. Charak Puja is a Hindu folk festival held in honour of Lord Shiva on the last day of the month of Chaitra. According to Philadelphia Museum of Art’s website,  this festival is predominantly observed in West Bengal and Southern Bangladesh. During Charak Puja, a select group of worshippers are strung on hooks and swung by rope from a wooden pole, a devotional act intended to satisfy the lord Shiva.
Similar video of a procession during Charak Puja where devotees are hooked to the crane can be seen here.
Also, during Thaipusam/Thaipooyam, a festival celebrated by Hindu Tamil and Malayali communities, similar rituals are followed.
To sum it up, the video shows a procession during Charak Puja, and not a punishment to rapists.