A video of a man pulling a girl by her hair and brutally beating her is doing the rounds on social media with the claim that the man is a teacher in DPS School Rajbagh in Valsad, Gujarat.
The same video was shared in 2019 as RM VM school in Valsad, Gujarat. The viral message read, “आप के whatsapp पे जितने भी नंबर एवं ग्रुप हैं एक भी छूटने नही चाहिए, ये वीडियो सबको भेजिए ये वलसाड के RM VM SCHOOL का टीचर 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 (Not a single contact and group on your WhatsApp should be left out, send this video to everyone. He is a teacher at Valsad’s RM VM School. Share this so much that the teacher and the school are closed. A viral video makes a lot of difference and results in proceedings. Those who can’t sympathiae please keep your mouth (typing) closed.)”
The video was circulating on Facebook with the above-mentioned claim.
Fact-check
A reverse image search on Google led Alt News to a February 10, 2018 Dainik Bhaskar article which carried the same video. The article said that the incident occurred in Raipur, Chhattisgarh. The man was beating up the girl as part of an ‘exorcism’ and that the whole event took place in the presence of the girl’s family.
A subsequent report Dainik Bhaskar on February 11, 2018, said that the incident took place in Raipur’s Santoshi Nagar. The man who performed the ‘exorcism’ was a pastor named Dinesh Sahu. He hails from a town named Chipli in Kabirdham district. Sahu had been taking advantage of people’s superstitions by using torturous methods to help those who believed to be possessed by ghosts. His methods had angered the residents of his town therefore, he eventually fled to Santoshi Nagar. The police arrested Sahu after the video of him beating the minor girl went viral. According to Dainik Bhaskar, the incident had occurred four months prior to when he was arrested.
The case was also reported by Haribhoomi, according to which, Sahu was arrested by SDOP Ritesh Choudhari and TI Rajkumar Sori under section 151.
In conclusion, the man in the video, assaulting the girl, is not a teacher of Valsad’s RM VM school or DPS Rajbagh but a pastor in Chhattisgarh trying to perform an ‘exorcism’.
Similar misinformation has been circulated in the past to target both schools. Different videos like a child abuse video from Syria, another from Egypt and one from Delhi had been shared claiming that they show RM VM school teachers assaulting students. Similar claims targeting other schools in Valsad have also circulated online.
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