Photo of man in turban with bruises on his back falsely linked to Indian farmers’ protest

What's the claim?

Amid the current farmers’ protest in Delhi, dubbed as "Farmers’ Protest 2.0," an image showing a man wearing a Sikh turban with bruises on his back has been widely circulating on social media. Users sharing the photo claim that the man, purportedly a farmer, was brutally beaten by the police during the ongoing protest. 

An approximate translation of a widely shared Facebook post (archived here) in Assamese reads, “If this farmer has actually been thrashed on his back, then the BJP government is scratching its ears with the tail of a tiger; you wait and watch. It will have dire consequences” The overlaid text, written in Assamese, on the photo reads, “BJP government’s brutal thrashings on the back of a farmer.” Multiple other users have also shared the same photo with similar claims in Assamese. Archived versions can be seen here and here. 

Screenshots of Facebook posts sharing the viral photo. (Source: Facebook/Modified by Logically Facts)

However, we found that the viral photo has been available online since 2019, and the man seen in the image is reportedly an auto driver who was beaten by the police in Delhi’s Mukherjee Nagar area. 

What we found

A reverse image search reveals that the photo is unrelated to the current farmers’ protest and has been available online since June 2019. 

We found that the same photo and similar photos of the same person were shared on a Facebook post by a local media outlet, Haryana Times, on June 17, 2019. According to the caption, written in Hindi, the person was severely beaten by the Delhi police, and it left deep bruises on his body. 

We also found that similar images of the same person with injury marks were earlier posted by several users on X. According to such a post on June 17, 2019, the incident took place in Delhi’s Mukherjee Nagar area, where the police physically assaulted an auto driver and his son. 

Comparison of the viral photo with similar photos of a Sikh man with bruises on his body. (Source: Facebook/X/Modified by Logically Facts)

The incident was reported in June 2019. According to the Business Standard, an altercation between an auto driver and a few policemen broke out in Delhi’s Mukherjee Nagar on June 16, 2019, after a "Gramin Sewa" auto brushed against a police vehicle. The police beat the driver and his son for allegedly threatening them with a sword, the report added.

Moreover, ABP Majha, in its report covering the incident on June 17, 2019, featured two similar images of the auto driver with bruises on his body. We found another report by ABP from July 2, 2019, including a photo of the victim speaking to the media. While comparing it to the viral photo, we noticed close similarities between the two.

Visual comparison of the viral photo and ABP Majha photo. (Source: Facebook/ABP Majha/Screenshot/Modified by Logically Facts)

Visual comparison of the viral photo and ABP photo. (Source: Facebook/ABP/Screenshot/Modified by Logically Facts)

According to a report by India Today, published on September 3, 2019, two police personnel were dismissed, and two others were suspended in connection with the case. It also corroborates the fact that the injured Sikh man, Sarabjeet Singh, was an auto driver. The report has embedded a video report on the said incident, where Singh can be seen running after the cops with a sword before being knocked down on the ground. The cops can be seen thrashing the man with batons. 

While we couldn’t independently verify the source of the viral image, media reports point to the fact that the photo in question shows an auto driver assaulted by the cops in Delhi’s Mukherjee Nagar area in June 2019 and is not related to the current farmers’ protest. Moreover, the fact that it has existed online since June 2019 and precedes even the first round of farmers’ protests that began in August 2020 confirms that it cannot have connections to the farmers’ protest in any way. 

The verdict 

The viral photo predates the series of farmers’ protests Delhi has witnessed over the last few years since 2020. The man seen in the photo is reportedly an auto driver who was assaulted by police in Delhi’s Mukherjee Nagar area in June 2019. We have marked the claim as false as it wrongly links the photo with the farmers’ protest.