Is only the Muslim community involved in the lynching of Sikhs in Maharashtra? read fact-check

A video is going viral on social media sites. In the video, it can be seen that the feet of two minors being thrashed by the mob are tied with a rope, one’s face is bleeding, while the other is lying on the ground. Users are sharing this video with the claim that a Muslim mob is lynching Sikh minors.

A verified user named Devesh Tyagi posted the video on Twitter and wrote, “The pyre of the sadhus of #Palghar had not even subsided, then #Jihadi Muslims of #Maharashtra (Parbhani) killed #Sikh children by mob lynching. Jihadis killed 3 #Sikhs by tying their hands and feet so brutally that, one Sikh boy died, and 2 are seriously injured. @VirendraDubey_’s question: Whose trust do we have to win? Descendants of that Aurangzeb, who beheaded his elder brother #DaraShikoh and gifted it to his father, to remain the king of supremacy?”

अभी #Palghar के साधुओं की चिताओं की अग्नि शांत भी नहीं हुई थी, फिर #Maharashtra (परभणी) के #Jihadi मुसलमानों ने Mob lynching कर #Sikh बच्चों की हत्या कर दी।

जिहादियों ने 3 #Sikhs को हाथ पैर बांधकर इतनी बेरहमी से मारा कि, एक सिख बालक की मृत्यु हो गई, और 2 गंभीर रूप से घायल हैं।… pic.twitter.com/j8409sHgsF

— Devesh Tyagi (@deveshtyagisays) May 31, 2023

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A user named Hindu Yuva Vahini wrote, “#Sikh children have been thrashed by #Muslim mob in #Sigligarh (Maharashtra). They took off their turbans and beat them, well this is a mutual matter between these two communities, what do we Hindus mean by all this, these Sikhs had fed a lot of chicken to the Muslims in Shaheen Bagh.. #Sikh_Muslim_Sangam”

#सिगलीगढ़ (महाराष्ट्र)
में #सिख बच्चों को #मुस्लिम भीड़ ने जमकर पीटा है। पगड़िया उतारकर पीटा , खैर यह इन दोनों कौमों का आपसी मामला है, हम हिंदूओ का क्या मतलब इन सबसे , शाहीन बाग में खूब चिकन खिलाया था इन्ही सिखों ने मुस्लिमो को .. 😂😂😂#सिख_मुस्लिम_संगम pic.twitter.com/iPBN4MGmwW

— Hindu yuva vahini (@Offical_Rewari) May 31, 2023

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Baba Gurpreet Singh Udasi tweeted the video in Punjabi language, whose english translation is almost like this – How Sigligarh Sikh children were beaten up by Muslim mob. Your luck is bad, Veer you have been beaten by Muslims, no one will help you. I wish Hindus would beat you, our Balinese warriors would turn Facebook into silk. But the ankles of these warriors get wet on hearing the name of Muslims. Now these heroes will try to find your secret.

ਸਿਗਲੀਗਰ ਸਿੱਖ ਬੱਚਿਆਂ ਨੂੰ ਮੁਸਲਿਮ ਭੀੜ ਵੱਲੋਂ ਕਿਸ ਤਰ੍ਹਾਂ ਨਾਲ ਮਾਰਿਆ ਕੁੱਟਿਆ ਗਿਆ ਹੈ । ਤੁਹਾਡੀ ਕਿਸਮਤ ਮਾੜੀ ਹੈ ਵੀਰੋ ਕਿ ਤੁਹਾਨੂੰ ਮੁਸਲਮਾਨਾਂ ਕੁੱਟਿਆ ਹੈ ਕਿਸੇ ਨੇ ਤੁਹਾਡੀ ਮਦਦ ਨਹੀਂ ਕਰਨੀ । ਕਾਸ਼ ਕਿ ਤੁਹਾਨੂੰ ਹਿੰਦੂਆਂ ਨੇ ਕੁੱਟਿਆ ਹੁੰਦਾ ਸਾਡੇ ਬੱਲੀ ਸੂਰਮਿਆਂ ਨੇ ਫੇਸਬੂਕ ਸੂਣ ਵਾਲੀ ਕਰ ਦੇਣੀ ਸੀ । ਪਰ ਇਹ ਸੂਰਮੇ ਮੁਸਲਮਾਨਾਂ ਦਾ… pic.twitter.com/fE6SfJ3dAo

— Baba GurpreeT Singh Udaasi (@GyaniGurpreetS) May 29, 2023

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 Many other social media users shared the same claim..

मुसलमानों को सख्त चेतावनी है। मुसलमानों ने आज फिर घिनौनी हरकत की सिख #Sikhs बच्चों को बेरहमी से पीट पीटकर जख्मी किया और एक की मौत हो गई।@JPNadda @AmitShah @ANI @narendramodi @mieknathshinde @MumbaiPolice @BhagwantMann @bsmajithia @SSAhluwaliaMP

— Arjun Singh Happy (@ArjunSinghHappy) May 31, 2023

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#सिगलीगढ़ (महाराष्ट्र)
में #सिख बच्चों को #मुस्लिम भीड़ ने जमकर पीटा है। पगड़िया उतारकर पीटा,
निहंगो क्या बिचार है इस भाई चारे के लिए 😂😂😂#सिख_मुस्लिम_भाई_चारा pic.twitter.com/Sk906G0Oh2

— ⚔️🇮🇳 KEERTI HINDUsthani 🌿बृज को लल्ला🚩⚔️ (@keerti_pratap_s) May 30, 2023

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#सिगलीगढ़ (महाराष्ट्र)
में #सिख बच्चों को #मुस्लिम भीड़ ने जमकर पीटा है। पगड़िया उतारकर पीटा , खैर यह इन दोनों कौमों का आपसी मामला है, हम हिंदूओ का क्या मतलब इन सबसे , शाहीन बाग में खूब चिकन खिलाया था इन्ही सिखों ने मुस्लिमो को .. 😂😂😂#सिख_मुस्लिम_संगम pic.twitter.com/LDkI00jH0k

— Monika Jain (@monika_bkn) May 30, 2023

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Fact Check

To verify the authenticity of the viral video and claim, the DFRAC team did a few keyword searches on Google. During this we received many media reports.

According to media reports, in Parbhani district of Maharashtra, a mob thrashed three minor children of the Sikh community mistaking them for goat thieves. One of them has died while two are hospitalized.

The police have registered a case against a total of 9 people in this case, out of which four accused, including the main accused Akram Patel, former Sarpanch of the Gram Panchayat, have been arrested.

After this we got the statement of Parbhani Police on Twitter. The video has been posted in Marathi language and it has been written that the unfortunate incident of mob lynching of a boy from Shikalkari community in Parbhani district is being given a communal colour. Parbhani District Police Force appeals that please don’t believe in false rumors doing rounds on social media, don’t post hate mongering against any religion or community.

It is being told by the police in the video that as soon as the news was received, the police reached the spot within five minutes. The police took the Sikh children in their car to the civil hospital, out of which one died, the condition of the other two is out of danger.

In this video, the police is saying that it is being claimed that people of a specific community have committed lynching. It’s not like that. In our investigation, we found nine people as accused, seven of whom have been arrested. Among these arrested people are people of all communities. People from all the communities of the village are involved in this incident of mob lynching on the suspicion of goat theft.

परभणी जिल्ह्यात शिकलकरी समाजाच्या मुलाच्या मॉब लिंचिंगच्या दुर्दैवी घटनेला जातीय स्वरूप दिले जात आहे. परभणी जिल्हा पोलीस दलातर्फे आव्हान करण्यात येते की, कृपया सोशल मीडियावरील खोट्या अफवांवर विश्वास ठेवू नका, कोणत्याही धर्म किंवा समुदायाबद्दल द्वेषपूर्ण पोस्ट करू नका. pic.twitter.com/AEKX04Meob

— परभणी पोलीस – Parbhani Police (@Parbhani_Police) May 31, 2023

Conclusion:

It is clear from the police statement that the viral video claiming lynching of Sikh minors by Muslim mob is misleading as the incident involved not one specific community but every community in the village over suspicion of goat theft.