A video of a fruit seller deceiving his customers is going viral with the claim that he hails from the Muslim community and he is duping customers who are Hindus. The video shows the seller putting away a couple of fruits while packing and handing the bag back to the unaware customer. The cameraperson captures these instances and confronts the seller who then apologises to one of the customers.
Alt News has received several fact-check requests on WhatsApp to verify the legitimacy of the video.
The video is also circulating on Twitter with an anti-Muslim claim.
फल खरीदने के बाद काटे के तरफ
— हिरेन पांडे (@pandey_Hiren123) March 31, 2022
जरूर ध्यान रखें वरना ये
*मु$स्लिम फल विक्रेता* एसे गड़बड़ी
करते हे ओर *हिंदु ग्राहक* को बेवकूफ बनाते हे,
pic.twitter.com/El3G6shQEW
Several Twitter users shared this video asking people to beware of Muslim fruit sellers who deceive Hindu customers.
Fact-check
Through a keyword search on YouTube, Alt News found a video from March 21st, 2022 on a channel called ‘Bharti Prank’. The channel’s description says, “This channel is related to fun and entertainment.” Upon further research, it was found that ‘Bharti Prank’ primarily uploads recreational videos that are scripted.
The page is run by Raju Bharti who features in the viral video as the man who confronts the fruit seller, also an actor. They have appeared in several videos made by the channel.
Alt News has reached out to Raju Bharti and this article will be updated if and when he responds.
A scripted video was thus, shared with a false, anti-Muslim claim. Alt News has found that sharing such videos to target the Muslim community is a recent trend that doesn’t seem to decelerate. It must also be noted that these videos are being shared amid a rising tide of far-right Hindu groups promoting an economic boycott of Muslim businesses. Economically backward Muslim vendors are facing the brunt of this religious discrimination.
(This article has been republished from AltNews with permission. Read the original article here)