Hindus kill Muslim man by throwing off train for carrying beef

Rating Justification

The iVerify Pakistan team has reviewed this content and determined that it is false.

The iVerify Pakistan team reached this conclusion after conducting a reverse image search and keyword search to corroborate the alleged incident.

Multiple users were sharing a video on social media platform X since August 31, 2024, with the claim that Hindus beat an elderly Muslim man for carrying meat and killed him by throwing him off the train. However, Indian media outlets reported the man was not killed.

HOW IT STARTED

A user shared a video on X on August 31 with the caption: “Hindus beat up an old Muslim man for carrying meat in his food and threw him off a fast train until he died. Now they claim he committed suicide!”

The video showed men beating an old man with a white beard. The post did not mention any other relevant details such as the date, context and location of the alleged incident. It gained 3.1 million views and was reshared 23,000 times.

The video was widely shared by multiple other users with the same claim as can be seen here, here, here, here, here, here and here.

METHODOLOGY

A fact check was initiated to determine the veracity of the claim due to its high virality and public interest in acts of Islamophobia.

A reverse image search in combination with a keyword search for “Hindus”, “Muslim man”, “beaten up”, “train” and “carrying meat” yielded various news articles from leading Indian media outlets on the incident such The Print, The Wire and The Hindu.

As per the reports, the 72-year-old Muslim resident of Maharashtra state was accosted and beaten up by cow vigilantes on August 28 on suspicion of carrying beef when he was actually carrying buffalo meat, not outlawed by the state’s law.

The men had threatened to throw him off the train and kill him but did not actually do so since the man was saved by other train passengers. The police later registered a case against the assailants.

FACT-CHECK STATUS: FALSE

The claim regarding a Muslim man being killed after being thrown off a train by Hindus for carrying beef is false.

The man was harassed and beaten up on suspicion of carrying beef and was threatened with being thrown off but is still alive and did not die or commit suicide.

Evidence and References

September 3, 2024, The Wire news report:
https://thewire.in/communalism/attack-on-elderly-muslim-man-over-beef-suspicion-court-cancels-bail-granted-to-cow-vigilantes

September 2, 2024, The Print news report:
https://theprint.in/india/quarrel-over-a-seat-2-tiffins-full-of-buff-what-sparked-assault-on-muslim-man-on-dhule-csmt-train/2248836/

September 6, 2024, The Hindu news report:
https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/humiliated-left-shaken-by-the-ordeal-says-family-of-muslim-man-assaulted-on-mumbai-train/article68609597.ece