Video verification: Brutal assault of Dalit youths took place in Rajasthan’s Nagaur in 2020

A violent video of a brutal assault is circulating on social media. The two-minute video shows a group of men torturing a man. They have tied his hands, stripped him semi-naked and assaulted his private parts using a screwdriver. Alt News has not embedded the video in this report due to its disturbing nature.

Most claims suggest that the incident took place at Giriraj Motors in Govindgarh, Rajasthan and the man was assaulted by the employees of the service station. His only fault was that he complained of their poor service, the claims adds.

Several individuals have reached out to Alt News on our WhatsApp helpline number (76000 11160) to verify the video.

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[Viral Text: गोविंदगढ़ गिरिराज मोटरसाइकिल इंसानियत के खातिर इसे शेयर कीजिएगा इस आदमी की गलती इतनी सी थी कि इसने सर्विस सेंटर पर अच्छी तरह से सर्विस नहीं करने पर शिकायत की थी जिस पर शोरूम वालों ने किसके साथ अश्लील हरकतें की इसे इंसाफ मिलना चाहिए.]

Dalit youths assaulted in Rajasthan’s Nagaur last year

Alt News performed a reverse image search and found many news reports about the incident from last year. The incident took place at a two-wheeler agency in Rajasthan’s Nagaur district. Two Dalit youths were assaulted on a two-wheeler service station.

Two young Dalit cousins were brutally assaulted by the staff at a two-wheeler showroom in Rajasthan’s Nagaur.

In a video, men can be seen stripping the brothers, beating them and inserting a screwdriver dipped in petrol into one of their anus.https://t.co/wk2aOlJTbO

— The Wire (@thewire_in) February 20, 2020

Hanuman Singh, owner of the two-wheeler agency, and others assaulted the youths for allegedly stealing cash from the counter. The Indian Express reported that one of the victims was allegedly assaulted on private parts with a screwdriver dipped in petrol. As per Scroll, Rajasthan police arrested seven men and detained another seven in February 2020.

Panchodi police station SHO Rajpal Singh told the media that initially both sides had “reached a compromise”. The FIR was registered only after the videos went viral. Consequently, two FIRs were filed. The first one was against the attackers, filed under Indian Penal Code (IPC) sections: 342 (wrongful confinement), 323 (voluntarily causing hurt), 341 (wrongful restraint) and 143 (unlawful assembly), along with three other sections of the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989.

The other was a counter FIR filed by Singh, one of the seven arrested, against the two Dalit youths under IPC section 380 (theft). In the FIR, Singh alleged that the duo stole Rs 50,000 from the showroom counter.

A senior police officer, who did not wish to be named, told The Print that Nagaur has seen several instances of caste-based violence in the past. “Caste-based violence happens here routinely. Jats and Rajputs are proud of their castes and socially powerful. In areas where there is awareness, there is peace. But that isn’t the case in most places of Nagaur,” he said.

It must be noted that the incident took place in Nagaur district while social media claims suggest it happened in Govindgarh which is Jaipur district.

To conclude, a video of a violent and sickening assault on two men from the Dalit community in 2020 was recently shared with misleading context. The culprits involved in the incident were arrested by Rajasthan police in February 2020.