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| - Fact Check: Picture of man injured in Mewat violence passed off as atrocities on Hindus in Bengal
A disturbing image of an injured man with a bandaged head and blood dripping through his face is circulating on social media with the claim that it reflects the atrocities on Hindus in Bengal. India Today's AFWA probes the truth.
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India Today Fact Check
Though sporadic communal clashes have broken out in Bengal over the last few years, this particular picture is from Mewat in Haryana. The man in the picture was attacked with stones at Punhana during communal clashes last year.
It’s poll season in West Bengal, and according to some political experts, this is the most polarised election the state has witnessed so far. Meanwhile, a disturbing image of an injured man with a bandaged head and blood dripping through his face is circulating on social media with the claim that it reflects the atrocities on Hindus in Bengal.
Several Twitter users have posted the picture with the caption, “The media can show the news of the seven seaside crosses, but there are no reports of atrocities on Hindus happening in Bengal. Because their secularism will be in danger.rsh #StandWithBengalHindus”.
India Today Anti Fake News War Room (AFWA) has found that though sporadic communal clashes have broken out in Bengal over the last few years, this particular picture is from Mewat in Haryana. The man in the picture was attacked with stones at Punhana during communal clashes last year.
The archived versions of the posts are saved here and here.
Who’s the injured man?
Using reverse search, we found that the viral image was being shared on social media since May 2020 along with the picture of another injured person. Several right-wing Twitter handles and websites had used the pictures to report on communal clashes in Haryana’s Mewat district last year.
Some websites had also used a screenshot of a “Navbharat Times” newspaper clipping on the incident. As per these websites, this was the fallout of communal clashes that broke out at Punhana, Mewat, during the first half of May 2020. The man seen in the viral picture is Kapil who along with another man was injured as a mob pelted them with stones.
For further clarification, we contacted Monu Prajapat, the local reporter of “Navbharat Times”, who’d covered the incident. He confirmed that the picture was taken during communal tension at Punhana in May 2020.
With Prajapat’s help, we reached out to the victim the man seen in the viral picture. The person named Kapil Goyal confirmed to us over the phone that it was indeed him who was badly injured in the incident along with another man called Manish.
“There was tension in the area for a few days due to communal clashes. We were riding a bike when suddenly a group of people pelted stones at us. My skull was fractured, and I was hospitalised for one-and-a-half months,” Kapil said. He also sent us a picture of stitches on his head, while he was being treated at the hospital.
As per Kapil, an FIR was also lodged at the local police station.
Several incidents of communal violence have been reported from Bengal over the last few years. But the viral picture has no connection with Bengal, and it was taken during communal violence in Haryana’s Punhana last year.
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