Fact Check: Video of assaulting of animal rights activist and her team goes viral with wrong claim

New Delhi. Vishvas News. A video is viral on social media, in which a woman can be seen in a wounded state. The video claims that the woman is a Muslim doctor, who was beaten up by RSS men. It is being claimed that this woman doctor was beaten up with accusations that people from her religion are spreading corona virus. Vishvas News found in its investigation that this claim is false. This woman named Ayesha Christina is not a doctor, but an animal rights activist. Ayesha Christina told us that no religious angle was involved in the incident.

CLAIM

In the viral video, an injured woman can be seen in a police station. The video description reads “The Hindu extremist group RS, to which Prime Minister Modi and the ruling party belong, severely beaten Aisha, a Muslim doctor, in a hospital. The trivial reason is accusations that Muslims are spreading the Coronavirus, and India is witnessing a fierce campaign against Muslims led by the ruling Hindu party. Please forward it 👇 widely to every Indian.”

The archive link to this viral post can be seen here.

Investigation

Vishvas News first carefully watched this viral video. Nowhere in the video does this woman say that she is a doctor or that her group was attacked by members of the RSS. The woman can be heard saying, “Hi, this is Ayesha. We keep talking to you about the kind of stuff that happens to me. I am standing outside the duty officer at Azadpur Station. We have just been beaten up while we were catching dogs. Somebody came to us and spoke to our staff badly as usual. We are supposed to shut up and take this nonsense all the time so when we decide to stand up for our voice to be heard, this is what is done to us.” After this, the woman goes ahead and shows other members of her team, introducing them. Some policemen can also be seen in the video.

We then put this video on the InVID tool and fetched its key frames. Then we searched these key frames on Google reverse image with the keyword ‘Ayesha’. We found a report published on India Today website on July 4, 2020, which contained details of this viral video. The woman was identified in the news as Ayesha Christina, an animal rights activist and founder of the animal welfare organization Neighborhood Woof. According to the report, “Ayesha and her team members were allegedly assaulted by a group of about 20 people in Delhi’s Rani Bagh area on 3 July 2020. The team members were visiting the area to help the dogs on the road. “

There was no mention of RSS, or communal angle anywhere in the news. In the news, Ayesha has been described as an animal rights activist and founder of the animal welfare organization Neighborhood Woof and not a doctor.

We also got the news about this incident on Hindustan Times and The Hindu. In these reports, the woman seen in the video was identified as Ayesha Christina, an animal rights activist and founder of the animal welfare organization Neighborhood Woof. There was no mention of RSS or communal angle anywhere in all these reports here as well.

We contacted the Neighborhood Woof directly for further confirmation of this incident. We talked to Ayesha. She said, “There was no religious angle in this incident. We often face such attacks, but it has nothing to do with religion. I am not a doctor. We work for the rights of the animals, which many people do not like. On 3 July also, we went to the Rani Bagh area to catch some dogs for vaccination and sterilization. We have also made a video on this matter which can be found on our social media accounts. You will find full details about this case there. By the way, for those who spread such fake news, my answer is that my full name is Ayesha Christina Ben Kant Sharma. Although, I do not believe in any religion.”

On the Facebook page of Neighborhood Woof, we found this video uploaded on 14 July in which Ayesha and her team gave details of this entire case. According to the details, on July 3, the team went to the Rani Bagh area to catch dogs for vaccination and sterilization. There, some people mistreated them and also accused them of being child kidnappers. After this, the people of the society had beaten them and also damaged their car. This entire video can be seen here.

We also contacted DCP Outer Dr. A. Koan in this matter. He informed that “Three PCR calls were received on the night of 3 July over a quarrel between members of the NGO and the locals of Rishi Nagar. When police arrived at the scene, it was learnt that members of the NGO had come to catch the stray dogs and, since it was late in the night, local residents inquired about their identity, which triggered a debate and a scuffle. Case is under investigation.”

The post was shared on social media by a Facebook page named Rashtar Secular Society. This page has a total of 4,509 followers.

Conclusion: Vishvas News found in its investigation that this claim is false. This woman named Ayesha Christina is not a doctor, but an animal rights activist. Ayesha Christina told us that no religious angle was involved in the incident.

Tags

• Ayesha Christina
• Neighborhood whoof