Old video from Rajasthan falsely shared as Hindu women assaulted by Muslims in Pakistan

A video, where two men can be seen attempting to take a girl hostage while an elderly woman tries to stop the duo, was shared by Meghalaya governor Tathagata Roy on January 15, 2020. In the video, both the women are beaten and pushed around by the men. “A Hindu woman is being picked up by a Muslim in Pakistan in the front of his mother and child. And foolish Hindus are proud of the NRC opposition. There are 55 Islamic countries for 150 million Muslims, there are 69 Christian countries for 250 million Christians. And there is no country for 150 crore Hindus,” tweeted Roy.

[Translated from পাকিস্তানে এক হিন্দু মহিলা কে মুসলিম রা তুলে নিয়ে যাচ্ছে। তার মা ও সন্তানের সামনে থেকে। আর বোকা হিন্দু NRC বিরোধিতায় মগ্ন। 150 কোটি মুসলিমদের জন্য 55 টি ইসলামিক দেশ আছে, 250 কোটি খ্রিষ্টানের জন্য আছে 69 টি খ্রিস্টান দেশ। আর 150 কোটি হিন্দুদের জন্য নেই কোনো দেশ |]

পাকিস্তানে এক হিন্দু মহিলা কে মুসলিম রা তুলে নিয়ে যাচ্ছে। তার মা ও সন্তানের সামনে থেকে। আর বোকা হিন্দু NRC বিরোধিতায় মগ্ন। 150 কোটি মুসলিমদের জন্য 55 টি ইসলামিক দেশ আছে, 250 কোটি খ্রিষ্টানের জন্য আছে 69 টি খ্রিস্টান দেশ। আর 150 কোটি হিন্দুদের জন্য নেই কোনো দেশ | pic.twitter.com/7xForq6QIX

— Tathagata Roy (@tathagata2) January 15, 2020

The clip was earlier shared by Renee Lynn, the author of ‘India Stripped: Voice of India’, on January 7, 2019. Lynn claimed, “This video is horrifying what’s happening in Pakistan today. These Muslims beat the hell out of this young Hindu girl & her mother & was forcefully taken away.” It has amassed over 4,600 retweets so far.

Swarajya columnist Shefali Vaidya quote-tweeted Lynn and opined, “Skin crawling. And privileged Indian elite like @BDUTT @FarOutAkhtar and @Ram_Guha oppose #CAA coz they want Hindu women from Pakistan to continue to suffer in silence because they are Hindu, poor and lack a voice.”

A few more individuals on Facebook shared the video with the same narrative.

Fact-check

Alt News had earlier debunked the same video in December 2019 when it was shared with the claim that poor women were lifted in public eye and raped by men in Rajasthan. The video is at least two years old and is from Rajasthan’s Jodhpur district.

One of the men in the video is the husband of the girl they try to abduct. The elderly woman is the mother of the girl. According to a September 27, 2017 report in Dainik Bhaskar, the husband’s name is Shaukat who was married to Nemat and Aamad Khan’s daughter. “As per the police, Aamad Khan, a resident of Kalu Khan ki Dhani village, had married his daughter to Shaukat at a very young age several years back. Shaukat had asked his in-laws several times to send his wife. However, Shaukat’s mother-in-law Nemat insisted on doing the ‘Gauna’ when her daughter turns 18. -translated)”, states the report. Shaukat, along with an accomplice Ilyas, came with a tractor and forcefully took his minor wife after beating his resistant mother-in-law.

Child marriage in India is illegal yet prevalent in various parts of the country. Some communities marry their girls at a very young age however the bride stays at her father’s house till the time she attains adulthood. The girl starts living with her husband after a post-marriage ceremony called “Gauna”.

According to the local police, these men were arrested and charged with “several sections of kidnapping, wrongful restraint and using criminal force on a woman with an intent to outrage her modesty”. However, they were later released on bail while the minor girl was living in the same village with her mother.

A two-year-old video from Rajasthan of a man beating his mother-in-law for not allowing him to take his minor wife home is being shared with the false narrative that a Hindu girl and her mother was beaten-up by Muslim men in Pakistan. Despite the truth pointed out, Meghalaya governor Tathagata Roy has refused to take down the misinformation.

[Update: Meghalaya governor Tathagata Roy’s tweet was added to this report on January 16, 2020.]