Fact Check: Old video of crowd rushing to alcohol shop passed off as recent
A video of a large crowd waiting outside the gates of an alcohol shop has gone viral on social media. The crowd can be seen climbing over walls and gates and shoving each other causing the compound wall to collapse.
By Tejal Sinha Published on 6 July 2021 12:55 PM GMT
Hyderabad: A video of a large crowd waiting outside the gates of an alcohol shop has gone viral on social media. The crowd can be seen climbing over walls and gates and shoving each other causing the compound wall to collapse.
Social media users are claiming that the video was taken after the recent COVID-19 lockdown was lifted in Kerala.
Fact Check
The claim is false.
NewsMeter performed a keyword search and found a Facebook post from 31 July 2017. The caption written in Malayalam translated to, "This was when the Perumbavoor beverage outlet opened at 6 p.m after the hartal."
We also noticed that the people in the video were neither wearing masks nor maintaining social distance.
We then found a report by Malayalam Indian Express published on 31 July 2017 titled "Hartal over, beverage shop opened; Video of drunkards breaking down a wall". (translated)
According to the report, the BJP had called for a hartal to protest the killing of RSS worker Rajesh in Thiruvananthapuram which had upset the alcoholics. The sudden hartal had hit the alcoholics the hardest, it added.
It is evident that the viral video that is being linked to the recent relaxation of COVID-19 lockdown in Kerala is from 2017. Hence, the claim is false.
