Fact-Check: Does This Video Show Meiteis Shooting a Kuki Girl in Manipur?
We found that the video could be traced back to at least December 2022 and is reportedly from Myanmar.
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A distressing video of several people torturing a woman and then shooting her is going viral on the internet as a recent incident from Manipur.
What have users said?: People have shared the video mentioning that it shows armed Meitei civilians torturing and killing a young girl belonging to the Kuki community.
(Note: We have refrained from adding any archive links due to disturbing nature of the visuals.)
The post also targeted the central government over the incident.
(Source: Twitter/Screenshot)
Amar Asom, an Assamese daily also published the same visuals along with a report in their newspaper.
The visuals were published in today's edition, 19 June.
(Source: Amar Asom/Screenshot)
We received multiple queries about the video on our WhatsApp tipline.
What is the truth?: The video is not recent and could be traced back to December 2022.
According to reports, it shows a 24-year-old teacher named Aye Mar Tun being shot in Myanmar's Sagaing region on suspicion of giving information to junta.
How did we find that out?: We extracted several keyframes from the viral video using InVID WeVerify, a Google Chrome extension.
On performing a Google Lens search on one of the keyframes, we came across a news report published on The Irrawaddy.
The report carried a similar visual to the viral video and was headlined, "Myanmar’s Civilian NUG Condemns Extrajudicial Killing of Accused Junta Informant."
The National Unity Government (NUG) said that it would punish any members of the People's Defense Forces (PDF) if they are found guilty of shooting a civilian woman in the Sagaing region.
The statement came after the video went viral in which a woman who was accused of being a junta informant was shot dead.
According to the report, the incident happened in June 2022.
The report was published on 6 December 2022.
(Source: The Irrawaddy/Screenshot)
Other reports: Burma News International identified the woman as Aye Mar Tun who did not take part in the Civil Defence Movement (CDM).
The report was published on 9 December 2022.
It said that the video was released in December 2022 and showed the woman being forced to confess to being a militant informant.
Statement from Amar Asom: The newspaper's editor-in-chief, Manoj Goswami, clarified on his Facebook handle that the photo was incorrectly published related to Manipur.
The caption is a translated version of the original post.
(Source: Facebook/Screenshot)
Recent update on Manipur violence: On 15 June, Union Minister of State for External Affairs Rajkumar Ranjan Singh's house was set on fire by a large mob in Imphal.
The minister in response said that he was totally shocked by the attack and that "the law and order situation in Manipur has totally failed." You can read our coverage here.
Conclusion: While we could not independently verify the location of the video, it is clear that it predates the recent tensions in Manipur and is reportedly from Myanmar.
(Not convinced of a post or information you came across online and want it verified? Send us the details on WhatsApp at 9643651818, or e-mail it to us at webqoof@thequint.com and we'll fact-check it for you. You can also read all our fact-checked stories here.)
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