Video from Indonesia falsely shared claiming Hindu boys hit Muslim girl in India

By: Umme Kulsum
September 22 2023

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Screenshots of claims made online (Source: X/Modified by Logically Facts)

(Trigger warning: The video contains visuals of violence. Viewer discretion is advised.)

What’s the claim?

A 29-second clip, which shows some male students harassing a female student, is being widely circulated with the claim that some Hindu boys were seen misbehaving with a Muslim girl in India. 

The post, originally in Hindi, reads, “ये किसी कॉलेज का वीडियो है और ये ऐसा कॉलेज है जहां हिंदू लड़के लड़कियां साथ पढ़ाई करते हैं यहां देखिए हिजाब वाली लड़कियों के साथ कैसा बर्ताओ करते हैं संघी मानसिकता वाले लड़के माना की पढ़ना बहुत जरूरी है लेकिन इस तरह के कॉलेज में बिल्कुल नहीं.” (Translated: This video is from a college and this college allows Hindu boys and girls to study together. Look how they are treating a girl wearing a hijab. These right-wing boys. It’s important to study but not in a college like this). Several users have shared this video with similar claims and archived versions of the same can be seen here, here, here, here, here and here.

Screenshots of claims made online (Source: X)

However, the video dates back to February 2020 and is not from India but Indonesia. 

What we found?

We conducted a reverse image search on keyframes of the viral video and came across a report on YouTube published by an Indonesian news outlet, Tribunnews, dated February 14, 2020. The video carried the same visuals as the viral video that can be seen at 2:24 minutes timestamp. The YouTube video was titled in Indonesian, and the English translation read, “3 Students Who Bullied and Abused Girls in Purworejo Were Not Detained, School Principal Instead Hopes for Peace.”

Comparison of the viral video and the YouTube video (Source: X/ Tribune News, YouTube)

We also found multiple Indonesian news reports covering the incident in 2020. A report by Kompas News carrying a screenshot of the viral video stated that the incident took place at Muhammadiyah Need Middle School (SMP) in Purworejo. The report also stated that the suspects' names were withheld but that they were charged under Article 76c of the Child Protection Law concerning acts of violence against children.

The verdict

The incident depicted in the video is from a school in Indonesia, not India. Therefore, we mark this claim as false.