Child abuse video from Mexico falsely linked to ‘DPS Rajbagh, Valsad’

[CW: References to child abuse. The video has not been included in the fact-check due to its graphic nature.]

A video of a person physically assaulting a minor girl has been widely shared on WhatsApp. The person stands on the child’s legs, chest and arm. While the perpetrator’s face isn’t revealed, we can see a tattoo on the left ankle. As per social media claim, the person in the video is ‘Shakeel Ahmed Ansari’, a teacher at DPS Rajbagh in Gujarat’s Valsad. The video and Hindi text associated with it have been labelled forwarded many times on WhatsApp.

Alt News has received several requests to fact-check this claim on our WhatsApp helpline number (+91 76000 11160) and official mobile application. (iOS and Android).

[Viral text: आप के whatsapp पे जितने भी नंबर एवं ग्रुप हैं एक भी छूटने नही चाहिए, ये वीडियो सबको भेजिए ये वलसाड के DPS SCHOOL Rajbag का टीचर शकील अहमद अंसारी है इसको इतना शेयर करो की ये टीचर और स्कूल दोनों बंद हो जाए । वीडियो वायरल होने से काफी फ़र्क पड़ता है ओर कार्यवाही होती है जिसे दया न आये वो अपना मुंह (टाइपिंग) बंद रखे]

In addition to the above-mentioned claim, some texts also urge users to share this video so that it is brought to PM Narendra Modi’s attention.

VIDEO NOT FROM INDIA

Since the video shows a woman attacking a minor, the claim that Shakeel Ahmed Ansari is the perpetrator is false. On further analysis, we found that the video is not even from India.

In 2019, UK-based media outlets Metro and Mirror published reports on the viral video. As per the reports, the video was widely shared with the claim that it is from the US-based town Corpus Christi in Texas. Metro stated that the video may have been uploaded by the woman as part of a private Facebook ‘watch’ party which viewers must be invited to join.

Mirror reported that Corpus Christi Police believe that the incident occurred in Mexico’s Nuevo Leon in 2018. The police also stressed that the woman has an easily identifiable tattoo on her left ankle.

On November 8, 2019, the said police station tweet seeking help from netizens to identify the abuser.

HELP US IDENTIFY CHILD ABUSE SUSPECT https://t.co/or1J5jSewV

— Corpus Christi PD (@CorpusChristiPD) November 8, 2019

Three days later, they shared an update, “At this time all indications are that the incident did not occur in our jurisdiction and that it occurred in Nuevo Leon, Mexico. We have also received information that this incident may have happened over a year ago.” They are yet to identify the culprit or the specific location of the incident.

Child abuse Video update https://t.co/zgx9jPMdit

— Corpus Christi PD (@CorpusChristiPD) November 11, 2019

Earlier in October, the false claim was circulated with a different video. A 2019 clip of an activist’s interview during an anti-CAA protest in Banaras was shared with the false claim that he is Shakeel Ahmed Ansari, a teacher at DPS Rajbagh in Gujarat’s Valsad. DPS Rajbagh is not based in Gujarat but in Jammu and Kashmir. Valsad is in Gujarat. In 2019 alone, Alt News debunked three false claims about DPS School Rajbagh.