A disturbing video of two policemen balancing themselves on a stick, which is placed on a young man’s lap is being shared on social media. The young man is seen crying out of pain and pleading for mercy. According to the narrative shared along with the video, the young man is being punished by the policemen at Gahmar police station for not serving them tea. Facebook page – Mumtaj A name you can Trust – posted the video with a message, “ये देखो इसका कसूर इतना है चाय नही लाया गहमर थाना पुलिस भाइयों इस पुलिस वाले की वीडियो वायरल करो इसको तो सजा मिलनी चाहिए (See this, his fault was only that he didn’t bring tea for them – Gahmar police station. Brothers, please share this video and make this video viral. The policeman should be punished -translated ).

ये देखो

( इसका कसूर इतना है चाय नही लाया) गहमर थाना पुलिस भाइयों इस पुलिस वाले की वीडियो वायरल करो इसको तो सजा मिलनी चाहिए…

Posted by Mumtaj A name you can Trust on Tuesday, 30 July 2019

This video is being widely shared on Facebook and Twitter with an identical narrative.

Fact-check

With the help of a digital verification tool InVid, Alt News obtained multiple keyframes of the video. On reverse searching one of the keyframes on Google, we found a news report which dated back to November 2017. The said incident took place at Paniyara police station located in Maharajganj district (UP) and NOT Gahmar police station which is in Ghazipur district (UP). The teenage boy assaulted by the policemen in the video was accused of theft. Hence, the specific claim, that the teenager was punished by the police for not serving them tea, is false. According to the report, the incident took place in the month of September in 2017.

Sub Inspector KN Shahi, one of the senior police officers seen in the video, was then suspended in the matter. Ashutosh Shukla, Additional SP of Maharajganj district was quoted in the report of November 2017, saying, “The cops were trying to beat the boy and recover the items allegedly stolen by him. They could not find any items on him and so he was let off. We have suspended the policeman in question, the Sub Inspector, and we will take more action after a detailed inquiry.”

NDTV reported, “The boy was accused of theft by a woman from his village and after a complaint was lodged against him, he was picked up by the police and brought to the police station for questioning.”

In conclusion, a two-year-old video of a boy tortured by two policemen over an allegation of theft was falsely shared on social media with the claim that he was tortured for not serving them tea.

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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.