Old Video of UP Cop Beating Woman Falsely Linked to Hathras Case

The video is actually from March, from Hamirpur in UP, where a woman was beaten for flouting lockdown rules.

Fact-Check: An old video of a woman from Hamirpur has been falsely linked to the Hathras case.

(Photo: Altered by The Quint)

A video of a cop kicking a woman inside a police station has gone viral with the claim that the Uttar Pradesh Police had beaten the mother of the Hathras case victim when she had asked to see her daughter before cremation.

The video is actually from March, from Hamirpur in UP, which had also gone viral in September 2020. Circle Officer Anurag Singh of Sadar told The Quint that the woman was taken into custody for flouting lockdown rules and was beaten by the Station Officer, Shyam Pratap Patel, who is no longer in-charge of the station.

CLAIM

The video was shared with the claim: “Uttar Pradesh. Before burying the body of the girl in Hadara, the Yogi police detained the family members, including the mother, and beat the mother when she told them that she wanted to see my mole's body. (sic)“

You can view an archived version here.(Source: Facebook/Screenshot)

The claim misspells Hathras as ‘Hadara’ and was also shared in Tamil.

You can view an archived version here.(Source: Facebook/Screenshot)

WHAT WE FOUND OUT

A reverse image search of the keyframes of the video led us to an article on a website, ‘etoinews’, attributing the video to Hamirpur, Uttar Pradesh.

A keyword search of the same led us to a report by Times of India, which stated that Hamirpur’s Superintendent of Police, Narendra Kumar Singh, had taken cognisance of the video after it went viral and had ordered an enquiry into the incident.

The cop beating the woman was identified as SO Shyam Pratap Patel.

A report on Hindi news site, Amar Ujala, carrying the stills from the viral video, also stated that the woman was a vegetable seller who had opened her shop despite orders of a lockdown. The policeman reportedly kicked her when she started pleading to be let go.

The Quint reached out to CO Anurag Singh who confirmed that the video was indeed from Hamirpur.

“The incident took place in March when this woman was taken into custody for breaking lockdown rules. The officer in the video is Shyam Pratap Patel, who is no longer in charge of the station and has been sent to police lines,” Singh said.

Evidently, an old video of a woman from Hamirpur has been falsely linked to the Hathras case.

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