A video is being widely shared on social media platforms, showing a few men beating a woman. It is being claimed, along with the video, that the video was from Pakistan and shows a group of men beating a woman after she asked for evidence suggesting strikes by Pakistan on India.
During the investigation, we found the claim to be false. The video shows a group of men beating a transgender person.
Claim:
X user Manoj Singh shared the video with the viral claim.
Other social media users are also sharing the video with a similar claim.
Investigation:
We started the investigation by running a reverse image search on the keyframes obtained by uploading the video in the InVid tool.
We found this video uploaded on Instagram on April 28, which was before the Operation Sindoor.
We found the video posted on a Facebook page DAILY TAAS, on 24th April.
The caption said (translated): Influential suspects brutally tortured a transgender woman for refusing friendship and tried to kidnap her by grabbing her by the hair and throwing her into a car. Due to the transgender woman’s screams and resistance, the suspects opened fire and fled. The police registered a case on the request of transgender woman Shahzad alias Shahzadi, but the suspects have not been arrested yet. The unfortunate incident took place in Vehari, under the jurisdiction of the Daniwal police station.
We also found the same video uploaded by an Instagram handle on April 23.
The caption said: According to different reports, the incident took place in Vehari, an area of Punjab. it can be seen in the video how five to six armed men are trying to kidnap a transgender by severely torturing her and also firing gunshots. The sad thing is that neither anyone standing nearby came to help the victim, nor did they inform the police on the 15 helpline. Its also raises a huge question mark on the performance of Police of relevant Police station and Punjab Police. CM Punjab must take immediate strong notice of this brutality.
We found a news report about the incident also.
Conclusion: A video of an assault on a transgender person in Vehari, Pakistan, predating Operation Sindoor, is being widely shared as a recent incident of a woman from Pakistan asking for evidence about Pakistan’s strikes on India. The viral claim is false.
