On social media, a video of a woman tied to a tree has gone viral. While sharing the video users claim that “Under Sharia law, if a woman is r@ped, it’s considered s*x outside of marriage, and she is to be punished. In most Sharia countries, women are stoned do death if they report they were r@ped. So the one in the video got ‘lucky’ for only being flogged.”
Moreover, several users shared this video and made similar claims. The link can be seen here, here and here
Fact Check
During the investigation, DFRAC found that the claim was false. We found multiple media reports regarding this incident. According to ‘Hindustan times report published on 22 March, 2018 “A woman was allegedly tied to a tree and flogged in public by her husband on a village panchayat’s order for eloping with another man in Uttar Pradesh’s Bulandshahr.”
Furthermore, we also found a report from ‘India Today’ published on 23 March, 2018 stating “on March 10 in Launga village, the 20-something-year-old woman was tied to a tree and whipped by her husband in the plain view of a crowd. Former Pradhan Shersingh, his son Shravan, and woman’s husband, Shaudan Singh, have been arrested and raids are underway to arrest other accused,” the report quotes Bulandshahr SP Praveen Ranjan Singh.”
Conclusion
It is evident from the DFRAC’s fact check that the viral video dates back to 2018, the accused named was Shaudan Singh and there is no communal angle involved in this incident. Therefore, the claim of social media users is misleading.
