Old Video of Cow Vigilantism Rehashed in ‘Forced Conversion’ Claim

The caption shared along with a viral video claims that it shows a Hindu mob attempting to convert a Muslim man.

The caption shared along with a viral video claims that it shows a Hindu mob attempting to forcibly convert a Muslim youth.

(Photo: The Quint)

Don’t fall for fake news, click here to check out The Quint’s WebQoof stories.(Photo: The Quint)

CLAIM

A video of a young man tied to a pole with a noose around his neck has been doing the rounds on social media recently.

It shows the man being slapped repeatedly by a group of people as they force him to chant ‘Jai Shri Ram’.

The caption shared along with the video claims that it shows a Hindu mob attempting religious conversion of the Muslim man.

The mob is also heard asking him if he will forego his religious identity to become a Hindu and eat pork – suggesting that he is a Muslim.

“A minor Muslim guy being assaulted by Hindu Mob forcing him to say aloud their slogan – Jai Shri Ram. They slap the boy and force him to convert to Hinduism. Will the Indian Minister ask for a report? Or is she too jittery?” the caption reads.

Viewer discretion advised:

The video has been shared several times on Twitter and Facebook, with one iteration garnering more than 10,000 views and 600 social media interactions.

A tweet containing the video, shared by user Danial Yousaf, had been liked more than 5,500 times at the time of writing this piece.

The post was shared by several users on Facebook. (Photo: The Quint)

THE TRUTH

A reverse image search of frames from the video reveal that the clip is old – three to four years – and has been shared several times in multiple contexts.

Screenshot of the reverse image search.(Photo: The Quint)

The search led to a India.com report from 2016 and a Tehlka Media video from 2015 that claimed that the video is from Haryana and shows cow vigilantes targeting the man for transporting cattle.

The video was rehashed after recent reports of two minor girls, 15 and 13, who were allegedly kidnapped and forcibly converted to Islam in Pakistan.

Following the incident, the Hindu community in Pakistan had staged protests seeking action against the perpetrators.

External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj had also sought details from the Indian Embassy in Pakistan following reports of the abduction.

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