HW: Video of minor Hindu boy being lynched, shared as case of ‘Love Jihad’

Image Courtesy:newstree.co.in

In yet another example of use of fake news to spread hate, a video of a mob beating up a minor boy in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh is being shared by Hindutva groups on Facebook as one being a case of love Jihad.

In the video, a boy is seen being beaten up by a mob and the same is being shared widely with the misinformation that the boy belongs ot Muslim community and was caught by the mob for forcibly taking a minor Hindu girl with him.

However, Alt News did a fact check on this and found that the incident was reported by news platforms on September 4 and found to be that of a 16-year-old boy who was thrashed in Dewas, Madhya Pradesh where he had allegedly eloped with a 12-year-old girl. Locals thought that he was Muslim and had taken her under false pretences. The police clarified to Alt News that both the boy and the girl were in fact Hindus. Yet, the video is being widely shared as one being proof of “love jihad”.

One such post may be viewed here:

https://www.facebook.com/100004913403238/videos/587617172408592/

It appears that many users have flagged this as false information and Facebook has already flagged it as being false news. However, this particular post has not yet been taken down by Facebook, while few other posts sharing the same video have been taken down.