A video is being shared widely on WhatsApp where a few men can be seen beheading a woman. It is being said that the incident is a case of ‘Love Jihad’ from Kerala.

Alt News has received requests on his WhatsApp helpline number +9176000 11160 for checking the authenticity of the video.

Same video had gone viral in 2019

The same video had gone viral in 2019, when it was claimed in the accompanying text that the incident was from Rajasthan, and the girl was a Hindu and the accused belonged to the Muslim community. The entire text can be read below:

“राजस्थान की एक हिन्दू लड़की को कुछ मुसलमान लड़को ने घर में लेे जाकर बलात्कार किया और फिर लड़की को बड़ी बेरहमी से मार डाला, और वहा की पुलिस भी कुछ नहीं कर रही है, क्योंकि जहां के वो लड़के है वहा मुसलमानों की आबादी ज्यादा है। कहा गई सरकार और कहा गई बेटी बचाओ का नारा देने वाले। मैं हाथ जोड़ता हूं इस वीडियो को इतना फैलाओ की इसकी आवाज मीडिया वालों और सरकार तक पहुंचे। क्योंकि ये हुआ है वो कल आपके साथ भी हो सकता है, इसकी जगह अपनी बहन को रख कर देखो और क्या करना चाहिए ऐसे लोगो के साथ ? आप से हाथ जोड़कर विनती है कि ये वीडियो हर ग्रुप में दिखना चाहिए ताकि इसकी आवाज हिंदुस्तान के सभी लोगो को सुनाई देनी चाहिए। (In Rajasthan, some Muslim boys raped a Hindu girl in a house and then brutally killed her. The police aren’t doing anything because Muslims are a majority in the area where the boys belong to. Where is the government and where are the people who gave ‘Beti Bachao’ slogan. I plead you to spread this video so much so that it reaches the media and the government. Because what happened can even happen with you tomorrow, put your sister in her place. What should be done with such people? I plead you to share this video in every group so that all the people of India should listen to it-translated)”

Alt News had received requests for fact-check of the video back in 2019 as well.

The video is also shared with the identical narrative on Twitter by several individuals (1, 2, 3, 4).

Fact-check

With a keyword search on Google, Alt News found an article by a Malaysian newspaper New Straits Times. Earlier in March 2018, the video had gone viral in Malaysia where it was linked with a murder that took place in the Malaysian town of Sri Aman. At the time, the Malaysian police had said that it was from South America.

Video from Brazil

Alt News broke the video into multiple keyframes using InVid, a digital verification tool. On reverse searching the keyframes on Yandex, we found that the incident took place in Brazil, South America. A 19-year-old Brazilian woman, Débora Bessa, was kidnapped and later killed by the accused André de Souza Martin, a member of a rival drug gang. Emylson Farias, the Secretary of Public Security for the state of Acre (Brazil) said that Débora was a member of a rival faction and there are indications that she had participated in crimes against another drug gang that executed her.

“The victim’s sister, Sarah Freitas Bessa, 21, and other relatives searched on their own and found the girl’s body,” reported Brazilian news portal G1.

This video was earlier debunked by SMHoaxSlayer.

In conclusion, an old clip of beheading from Brazil is being shared as the video of an incident from Kerala. In 2019, the same video was falsely shared as an incident from Rajasthan showing a Hindu girl being killed by Muslim men.

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About the Author

Jignesh is a writer and researcher at Alt News. He has a knack for visual investigation with a major interest in fact-checking videos and images. He has completed his Masters in Journalism from Gujarat University.