Does This Video Show Muslim Men Killing Female RSS Supporter in Kerala? No!

We found that the video was from a street play based on the murder of journalist Gauri Lankesh.

Abhishek Anand
WebQoof
Published:
<div class="paragraphs"><p>Fact-Check | The video is old and is being shared with a false claim.</p></div>
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Fact-Check | The video is old and is being shared with a false claim.

(Photo: Altered by The Quint)

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A video which shows several men dragging a woman out of her car and then shooting her in public is being widely shared on social media platforms.

What are users claiming?: Those sharing the video claimed that woman was a supporter of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and was killed by people belonging to the Muslim community in Kerala. It also said that the killers delivered a speech.

An archive of the post can be seen here.

(Source: Twitter/Screenshot)

At the time of writing this report, the video had recorded more than 4,50,000 views on Twitter. (Archives of similar posts can be found here, here, and here.)

Are these claims true?: Neither is the video recent nor is it from a real incident.

  • It dates back to September 2017 and shows a street play based on the assassination of journalist Gauri Lankesh.

  • The play was performed by members of Democratic Youth Federation of India (DYFI) in Kerala's Kalikavu.

The speech in the video: On going through the speech, we found that the people were speaking in Malayalam. We translated it to English and the transcript can be read here.

Person One: She fought, and she stood bravely against the RSS. In the end, the RSS killed her too...For what, did you kill this innocent reporter?

Attacker: We are from RSS. We are patriots.

Person One: Did you hear them? They are RSS people, the ones who betrayed the independence struggle and who shot Mahatma Gandhi. They are the ones, the people of RSS. It is dangerous. Silence is dangerous. Fascism is dangerous. Despite fascism reaching up to your kitchen, the silence is dangerous, it is dangerous.

The person further continues to speak against the RSS and condemns the killing of other people such as MM Kalburgi and Govind Pansare.

A second wind?: The Quint had previously debunked the same video which was shared as the murder of a female RSS worker.

  • The video, in reality, showed a street play which was performed by the DYFI in Kalikav, Kerala.

  • It was based on the murder of journalist and activist Gauri Lankesh. It also condemns the RSS.

  • The man delivering the speech in the video was identified as CT Sakkaria, who served as DYFI Kalikavu Area Secretary.

The report was published on 15 September 2017.

(Source: The Quint/Screenshot)

  • Further, we also found a longer version of the video uploaded on DYFI's Kalikavu Facebook page on 8 September 2017.

  • The video's caption when translated to English, said, "A street drama where RSS is being investigated by people based on the death of Gauri Lankesh who was shot dead by RSS people."

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Conclusion: The video is old and is being shared with users falsely claiming that it shows men belonging to the Muslim community killing a female RSS supporter in Kerala.

(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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