A video of groups of men engaging in eve-teasing and assault has gone viral on social media with the claim that it shows Muslim men harassing Hindu women in Tamil Nadu.
The video, posted on Facebook, appears to be a juxtaposition of several clips, and shows bike-borne men harassing a group of women, creating a ruckus in public and engaging in a heated exchange with a man, who is subsequently assaulted.
Similar posts are doing the rounds on Twitter as well.
While the ruckus did take place, The Hindu found that there was no communal angle to these incidents, as none of the accused were Muslims.
A reverse image search revealed that the video was a combination of visuals from two separate incidents at two women’s colleges in Madurai.
Our correspondent S. Sundar reached out to the Madurai police, who confirmed that the video showed two different incidents, and that none of the accused were Muslims in either of these cases.
Deputy Commissioner of Police, Madurai North, N. Mohanraj, told The Hindu that the first incident took place at Lady Doak College near Tallakulam on October 30, when a group of youth who were in the area to participate in the Muthuramalinga Thevar Guru Puja created a ruckus. The Tallakulam police have arrested 11 accused in connection with the case.
The other incident took place at Sri Meenakshi Government Arts College for Women, Goripalayam, on November 2, when a few youth who were part of a funeral procession caused a nuisance by honking horns and shouting while students were leaving the premises. When a parent, P. Senthamizh Pandian, questioned their behaviour, the youth, who were in an inebriated state, assaulted him. The Sellur police have arrested 6 out of the 8 accused, the Deputy Commissioner of Police said.
Mr. Mohanraj clarified that none of the accused belonged to the Muslim community.
