No, clip doesn’t show women beating Kerala Congress MLA after watching 'The Kerala Story'

Context

Several Twitter users have shared a one-minute 45 second-long-video claiming that women in Kerala stripped a Congress MLA and physically assaulted him after watching ‘The Kerala Story.’ The viral video shows a group of women surrounding a car on the road and brutally beating a man using sticks and slippers.

The viral video was shared with captions that insinuated a growing trend of such incidents in the country, implying a "positive transformation" in Hindu girls' attitudes towards Sanatan (Hinduism) after watching the film. The post goes on to say, "This should happen with all the secular leaders in the country."

However, neither does the video show a Congress MLA nor does it have any connection with 'The Kerala Story.' It depicts an incident from January 2023, where a man, identified as Shaji, and his family were subjected to violence by a group of women in Kerala. The women alleged that he had morphed and circulated a nude image of a woman.

In Fact

A reverse search on one of the keyframes from the viral video elicited local media reports from Kerala regarding the incident, which also carried screengrabs from the viral footage. The incident, which occurred in January 2023, involved the assault of a man named Shaji.

Manorama Online reported on January 7, 2023, that approximately 11 women were apprehended by the police for their involvement in attacking Shaji. The report revealed that Shaji had cut ties with the Zion Retreat Center, affiliated with the Emperor Immanuel Church. Soon after, several women associated with the church intercepted Shaji's car, assaulted his family members, and caused damage to the vehicle in the Kapparakkadavu area of Muriyad. The report mentioned that the women involved in the incident claimed they assaulted him because he had morphed and circulated a nude picture of a woman.

A report by Asianet News added that Shaji, his son Sajan, his wife Ashlyn, and relatives Edwin and Anwin were subjected to physical violence while traveling in a car.

Danny P.A., Grade Senior Officer of Aloor Police, told Logically Facts that Shaji had no political affiliation and added, ''The issue is not communal. The women who assaulted him are not Hindus but members of the Emperor Emannuel Church who had some personal issues; that's why they hit him.''

Following the video's viral circulation, the eleven women who had thrashed Shaji and his family were remanded to judicial custody, according to a report published by India Today. The report also stated that it had been alleged that Shaji manipulated a picture of the pastor from the church he had prior associations with and shared it on multiple platforms. The church authorities had already filed a case against the man with the Aloor police, and the investigation was underway before the incident. The women were charged under section 307 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), which pertains to the attempt to commit murder, reported India Today.

Furthermore, the alternate narrative on social media claiming that Hindu women in Kerala stripped a Congress MLA and assaulted him after watching the movie "The Kerala Story" is also inaccurate. The women incident happened in January 2023, while the film released on May 5, 2023.

What Did The Church Say?

Logically Facts also contacted an Emperor Emannuel Church authority who said, ''This man is not an MLA; the man is called Shaji. This incident happened in the Trichur district; he was residing near Emperor Emannuel Chruch and was a member of the Church just before the incident. He quit the Church and turned against one lady who was a service team member of the Church. He and his son together made morphed naked images of the lady. After the circulation of the morphed images, female members of the Church initiated a protest against him, and the normal protest escalated into the situation portrayed in the video.''

The Verdict

The incident is unrelated to any political figure or film. The women involved in the assault accused the man, identified as Shaji, of circulating manipulated pictures. On social media platforms, the viral video was falsely associated with a Congress MLA and the movie "Kerala Story."