Old video from Guatemala of woman set ablaze by mob shared as India - Alt News
Arjun Sidharth
8th October 2019 / 6:59 pm / Last updated: 10th October 2019
A horrific video of a young woman set ablaze by a mob has been posted on social media with the implication that the incident took place in India, and is the handiwork of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS). Due to the disturbing nature of the video, Alt News is not posting it in this article.
The above image is a screenshot of a tweet posted on October 6 by an account claiming to be Pakistani politician Aitzaz Ahsan. His tweet has been retweeted over 2400 times so far. The message along with it, posted in Urdu, rather loosely translates to, “The RSS terrorist organization occupied the whole of India, controlling them from the film industry to the Indian Army. And yet so much grace on them, even our media groups speak their language.” It is clear that the blame for the ghastly incident is placed on the RSS, suggesting that the incident took place in India.
The video in question is old, and not from India. The incident had occurred in Guatemala in Central America. The woman seen in the video was accused of having murdered a cab driver along with two male accomplices. She was apprehended by a mob and lynched. Her accomplices meanwhile had managed to escape. The incident had been covered extensively by the media when it had occurred in early 2015.
In 2017, the same video was shared with the false, communal narrative that it represented a Marwari woman who had married a Muslim man and was lynched because she refused to wear a burqa.
Again, in 2018, the video was portrayed by certain sections on social media as a Hindu girl burnt alive in Madhya Pradesh because she had attended a prayer meeting at a church.
It may be noted that the gruesome video showing a young woman burnt alive by a mob, is from Guatemala and NOT from India. The incident had occurred in 2015.
Update: The earlier version of the article referred to Aitzaz Ahsan as the author of the first tweet. The error is regretted, and has been corrected.
Arjun Sidharth is a writer with Alt News. He has previously worked in the television news industry, where he managed news bulletins and breaking news scenarios, apart from scripting numerous prime time television stories. He has also been actively involved with various freelance projects. Sidharth has studied economics, political science, international relations and journalism. He has a keen interest in books, movies, music, sports, politics, foreign policy, history and economics. His hobbies include reading, watching movies and indoor gaming.
Rahul and Priyanka Gandhi recently performed aarti at the Narmada Ghat in Madhya Pradesh’s Omkareshwar…
In the wake of the alleged murder of Shraddha Walkar by his partner Aftab Amin…
The video of a group of people stopping an e-rickshaw with BJP flags attached to…
Last week during the G20 summit in Bali, world leaders were informed of a missile…
Recently, several prominent BJP leaders claimed that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had intervened to stop…