Fact Check: Video of the cow attacking girl is from Chennai, not Haryana

Hyderabad: A video of a girl being brutally attacked by a cow is being widely shared on social media with the claim that the incident happened in Faridabad, Haryana.

The caption of the post reads, “A girl student going to school in Saitpura village in Faridabad was badly trampled by a cow. The whole incident was captured in CCTV camera installed in front of the house. Even after being hit with its horns, the cow continued to attack the girl for a long time. The child’s life was saved by the promptness of the villagers. (Translated from Hindi)”

In the viral video, a girl carrying a bag is walking on the road with a woman. When she tries to overtake two cows, one of them attacks her. She was later saved by some onlookers.

Fact Check

NewsMeter found that the claim is false as the video is from Arumbakkam in Chennai, not Haryana.

We started our investigation by performing a reverse image search using the keyframes from the video. We found the stills and the viral video on multiple media outlets like India Today, News 18 and Jagran.

The report on the incident was published on August 10, 2023, in India Today, titled ‘Cow attacks Chennai girl returning home from school, video goes viral.’

According to this report, the incident took place when the girl’s younger brother made some sound that angered the cow. When the girl tries to overtake the cows, the cow picks up the girl using its horns and repeatedly attacks her. On hearing the screams of her mother, the locals intervened in time and saved her. The girl was luckily saved and rushed to near nearby hospital. The report said that her condition is stable now. An FIR has been registered against the owner of the cows, Vivek.

Reports on News 18 and Jagran also reported the same information.

We also ran a keyword search and found the viral video on the official YouTube channel of Mirror Now titled ‘Chennai cow attack | Stray cow brutely attacks girl, horrifying video emerges’, published on August 11.

As per the video’s description, “In a horrific incident, a schoolgirl in Chennai was brutally attacked by a cow. The 9-year-old child was returning home with her mother and brother when suddenly a cow turned and charged at her. The cow lifted the girl with its horns and tossed her, repeatedly attacking her.”

According to a post on the Twitter handle Ajay AJ, Greater Chennai Corporation commissioner, Dr J Radhakrishnan, met with Ayesha, “who is recovering from injuries from a #CowAttack in Arumbakkam, #Chennai.” “She is recovering from injuries from a #CowAttack in Arumbakkam, #Chennai. The commissioner said the girl had slight injuries and she is recovering quickly,” said the rest of the tweet.

We also found that several other X users have said that the incident occurred in Chennai.

With this, it is evident that the viral video is from Chennai, not Haryana.