By Anmol Alphonso
A video of an injured man sitting in protest after an altercation with temple gaurds at the Sri Ranganatha Swamy temple in Srirangam, Tamil Nadu is being shared with the false claim that Kerala police beat up a Sabarimala devotee.
The Kerala government has been facing flak with devotees undertaking the Mandalam pilgrimage complaining about shortage of amenities and mismanagement of queues. The pilgrimage, which began on November 17, 2023 is set to conclude on December 27, 2023. In order to accommodate the heavy rush of pilgrims, the state government has extended the time of darshan by one hour.
The 40 seconds video was posted by the verified X handle Adv Aditya Anand (@_SanataniAditya) with the caption, "Imagine if this person was a Muslim...? #Kerala #Sabarimala"
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The tweet reply gained around 14.3 thousand views. The same video is also circulating on WhatsApp with the caption which translates in English to, "Sabarimala police hit and broke devotee's head" (In Malayalam -ശബരിമല പോലീസ്, അയ്യപ്പ ഭക്തന്റെ തല അടിച്ചു പൊട്ടിച്ചു..)
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FACT-CHECK
BOOM found that the incident in the viral video is from Srirangam, Tiruchirappalli district in Tamil Nadu, when two devotees and three guards are reported to have sustained injuries after a scuffle broke out between a group of visitors and guards at the Sri Ranganatha Swamy temple.
We found an Instagram post by Kerala Police with the same video dismissing the viral claim stating that the incident is not from Kerala.
The caption of the post in Malayalam translates in English to, "This incident of spreading images of attacking Ayyappa devotee did not happen in Kerala. It has been noticed that this video is being spread widely on social media as if it happened in Kerala. The State Police Chief has instructed to take strict action against those who spread such fake videos."
Taking a hint from this we found a news report by The Indian Express about the incident that also included a tweet from BJP Tamil Nadu leader K Annamalai who had posted the same video on December 12, 2023.
The report stated that two devotees and three guards had sustained injuries after a scuffle broke out between a group of visitors and guards at the Sri Ranganatha Swamy temple in Srirangam in Tamil Nadu’s Tiruchirappalli district.
The Indian Express report quotes an unnamed police official as, "Since it was closing time, there was heavy rush and the crowd was moving at a slow pace. The temple guards on duty were overseeing this. A group of devotees from Andhra Pradesh had started banging the hundial causing hindrance to other devotees. Despite the temple guards asking them to stop, the group did not relent and started shouting at them. When two of the guards told them to stop, they were attacked. One of the guards was pushed against the hundial, and this led to an altercation and the guards tried to bring the situation under control."
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BOOM has previously debunked misinformation around the Sabarimala pilgrimage. A video of a child crying after being separated from his father in the crowd was being shared online with the false claim that Kerala Police had detained the child.
