Viral video alleging that Christians are being buried alive in Sudan actually shows a 2016 assault incident in South Africa
A video circulating on social media (here, here, and here) shows a young man being forcibly locked inside a coffin by a group of people. The posts sharing this video claim that innocent Christians are being buried alive by Islamic terrorists in Sudan. Let’s verify the claim made in the post in this article.
Claim: The video shows innocent Christians being buried alive by Islamic terrorists in Sudan.
Fact: The video does not show Christians being buried alive by Islamic terrorists in Sudan. It actually shows a 2016 incident in South Africa’s Mpumalanga province, where two white farmers, Theo Martins Jackson and Willem Oosthuizen, assaulted a black man named Victor Mlotshwa and forced him into a coffin. Both were later convicted of assault, kidnapping, and attempted murder, and sentenced to 14 and 11 years in prison, respectively. The viral video is unrelated to Sudan. Hence, the claim made in the post is FALSE.
A reverse image search of keyframes from the viral video led us to multiple media reports (here, here, and here) featuring the same visuals. According to these reports, the incident occurred in August 2016 in South Africa’s Mpumalanga province, when two white farmers, Theo Martins Jackson and Willem Oosthuizen, assaulted a black labourer named Victor Mlotshwa and forced him to lie inside a coffin. The incident sparked widespread outrage. The accused claimed they only wanted to teach Victor a lesson for trespassing on their farm, while Victor stated he was merely taking a shortcut to nearby shops. Both Jackson and Oosthuizen were found guilty of assaulting Victor. The victim also recounted that while he was inside the coffin, he heard the accused saying, “Let’s pour petrol on it and set it on fire.” He later escaped after realising they had left.
Following a trial, the court found both farmers guilty of assault, kidnapping, and attempted murder. Theo Martins Jackson was sentenced to 14 years in prison, while Willem Oosthuizen received an 11-year sentence (here, here).
For context, Sudan has accused the United Arab Emirates of aiding the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces in the ongoing civil war that began in 2023. The conflict between the Sudanese army and the RSF has claimed over 150,000 lives and continues to intensify. Recently, the RSF captured El Fasher in Darfur, leading to reports of mass killings and ethnic violence. The situation has resulted in a severe humanitarian crisis, with millions displaced and facing acute shortages of food, water, and medical supplies (here, here).
To sum up, the viral video alleging that Christians are being buried alive in Sudan actually shows a 2016 assault incident in South Africa.