New Delhi: A two-minute clip purportedly showing an elderly Muslim man, seemingly a Maulvi, dragging an unconscious woman to a dark room has gone viral on various social media platforms, with many verified accounts alleging that he was attempting to assault the lady.
While some Twitter users called it “clearly scripted”, there were others who tried to portray the video as a “regular affair”, conducted by Maulvis, that has been exposed by this “report”.
Anchal Yadav (@AnchalTv), who works with the news channel Hindi Khabar, shared the video to expose how “women are treated in mosques and shrines” when they go for their “treatment”.
ये देखिये जो महिलाएं मजारों-मस्जिदों में इलाज़ कराने जाती है,उनका ऐसा इलाज करते है ख़ुदा के वंदे… pic.twitter.com/9CDTPlSHUI
— आँचल यादव (राष्ट्र सर्वोपरि?? ??) (@AnchalTv) September 16, 2022
Another verified user, ‘entrepreneur’ Arun Pudur described the man as “Khuda ka Baanda (God’s man) Mualana ” who was caught “red handed”.
‘Khuda ka Baanda’ Mualana drugs a Hindu woman to ‘treat’ her. He was caught red-handed by Hindu activists.
Can’t wait for @aroonpurie’s media to write “Tantrik attacked by Hindutva goons while treating a woman”. pic.twitter.com/5um6eV4pc7
— Arun Pudur ?? (@arunpudur) September 15, 2022
According to Prashant Umrao – whose Twitter bio says he’s the standing counsel in Supreme Court for Goa and Uttar Pradesh BJP media panelist – the video sets an example as to what happens when a “person goes to maulanas for their treatments”.
झाड़-फूंक के नाम पर लोग मजारों में मौलवियों के पास जाते हैं।
देखिए वहां क्या होता है। pic.twitter.com/SiRWVTnOI8
— Prashant Umrao (@ippatel) September 15, 2022
Meanwhile, Twitter user Taranjeet pointed out the fact that the camera is right in front of the “tantrik” all the time and the cameraman starts delivering “dialogues” after the cleric starts dragging the woman, clearly showing that it is scripted.
Don’t know how people believe it’s looks clearly scripted one having camera and in front of him that tantrik taking girl inside then whisper comes and camera guy starts dialogue
— TARANJEET (@jeet_taran) September 16, 2022
What is seen in the video
In an almost empty room, an elderly Muslim man is seen with an unconscious woman, a broom and some flowers on the floor, which appeared to be a setup for some ritual.
Few seconds later, the man drags the unconscious woman to a dark room. While he is dragging the woman, he is caught by a person who is filming the whole incident. On being confronted by the cameraperson, a visibly stressed cleric says that he is “treating the woman” in the “name of god”.
The truth
The short clip is part of a 12-minute video that was first shared on a Facebook group titled, “Future builder of Hindu Rashtra – Honorable Modiji”, by Sheikh Aslam on Monday.
In the post, Aslam wrote that an “infertile girl” was given false assurance of being able to bear a child while being given “intoxicants”. He also wrote, “Maulana used to make girls unconscious by feeding them intoxicating drugs and raped women, see full report”.
However, the full video also carried a disclaimer, which flashes for only two seconds, towards the end. When the cleric pleads with the cameraman to stop recording and delete it, a disclaimer reads, “Everything in this video is imaginary”.
The message also says, “Imaginary because reality is too bitter to be told or shown. Event(s) shown in this are not real compared to what has actually been happening in countries like ours”.
(In collaboration with SM Hoaxslayer)