A disturbing video has gone viral on social media platform X showing a group of men brutally assaulting an elderly man and cutting off his beard. The account named The Saviour with 201.7K followers shared the video. The user wrote the caption, “Elderly man brutally assaulted by Hindu extremists and forced to shave off his beard”
The archived link can be viewed here.
Fact Check
We investigated the viral claim by conducting keyword research. During the investigation, we found media reports which were dated June 15, 2021. The reports mentioned that the incident took place in Loni, Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh on June 5, 2021.
The victim and the primary accused, Parvesh, were known to each other for a considerable amount of time, the report states. Parvesh then claimed the tabeez (amulet) he had bought from the victim had a bad impact on his family. Thus, Abdul Samad was attacked at home by Parvesh and his associates Kallu, Aadil, Arif, and Mushahid. The report prominently emphasises that the bulk of those charged were Muslims.
In spite of this, the UP police verified that there was no communal purpose for the incident. Then, after the case was registered, the accused were taken into custody. The police issued the statement on their official Twitter handle.
Conclusion
From the fact check, it’s clear that the video is from 2021, indicating that authorities took appropriate action in response to the incident.
DFRAC Analysis: Misleading
