Fact Check: No, Muslim Man Didn’t Urinate On Maha Kumbh Poster. Drunk Man’s ‘Mistake’ Given Communal Spin

Video shows group of people assaulting a man while using abusive language against him. Those sharing the video claim the man is a Muslim who was 'caught urinating on poster of Maha Kumbh Mela'.

Screenshots from the video and the post making the false claim.

Source : X/Newsmeter

Claim: The video shows people thrashing a Muslim man for urinating on a Kumbh Mela poster in Raebareli, Uttar Pradesh. Fact: The claim is false. Raebareli’s Bachhrawan Police Station SHO OP Tiwari confirmed to NewsMeter that the accused’s name is Vinod and he belongs to the Hindu community.

Hyderabad: In the context of the ongoing Maha Kumbh Mela in Uttar Pradesh, a video has surfaced showing a group of people assaulting a man while using abusive language against him. Those sharing the video claim the man being assaulted is a Muslim man who was allegedly caught by the locals for urinating on photos of Maha Kumbh and Hindu deities displayed on a wall.

An X user, Baba Banaras, who has been caught several times indulging in misinformation, shared the video and wrote, “Rae Bareilly, UP: Abdul Urinates on Photos of Mahakumbh and Hindu Deities on Wall, Caught by Locals. (sic)” (Archive)

Fact Check

NewsMeter found that the claim is false. While the video is from Raebareli, Uttar Pradesh, our investigation revealed that the man accused of urinating belongs to the Hindu community.

We conducted a keyword search and found reports by Amar Ujala and India Daily published on January 11. Both reports mentioned the viral video which captured the assault.

According to these reports, the incident allegedly occurred on the evening of January 10, 2025, at the main intersection of Bachhrawan town in Raebareli. Locals caught the accused and assaulted him, while someone at the scene recorded the incident and shared the video on social media.

Neither report named the accused nor specified his community. However, mentioned that inspector OP Tiwari stated an investigation into the viral video is ongoing.

We also found another X user sharing the video with the same communal claim. However, the X handle of Raebareli police replying to the post clarified that the man being assaulted in the video is Vinod, a hawker from Kannauj district, who, in an intoxicated state, urinated near the wall, unaware of the presence of the Kumbh poster. The reply also clarified that the claim that Vinod belongs to a different community is false and baseless.

pic.twitter.com/bgSCeGmKNq

— Raebareli Police (@raebarelipolice) January 13, 2025

NewsMeter reached out to Bachhrawan SHO OP Tiwari, who refuted the claim that the accused belongs to the Muslim community. He clarified, “The accused’s name is Vinod, also known as Dinesh, son of Bharat, and he belongs to the Hindu community.”

Tiwari also shared a press release about the incident issued by the Bachhrawan Police Station. The statement confirmed that the accused, Vinod alias Dinesh, was arrested in accordance with the law and presented before the court.

Therefore, we conclude that the claim of a Muslim man urinating on a Kumbh Mela poster in Raebareli, UP, is false.

Claim Review:The video shows people thrashing a Muslim man for urinating on a Kumbh Mela poster in Raebareli, Uttar Pradesh. Claimed By:X users Claim Reviewed By:NewsMeter Claim Source:X Claim Fact Check:False Fact:The claim is false. Raebareli's Bachhrawan Police Station SHO OP Tiwari confirmed to NewsMeter that the accused’s name is Vinod and he belongs to the Hindu community.

Disclaimer: This story was originally published by Newsmeter, as part of the Shakti Collective. Except for the headline and excerpt, this story has not been edited by ABP LIVE staff.