FACT CHECK BY BOOM: A video of a scuffle between a group of individuals at the Tis Hazari Court mediation center in Delhi is circulating widely with a false association to an alleged assault on Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Member of Parliament Swati Maliwal.
Maliwal lodged a complaint alleging that she was assaulted by Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's aide, Bibhav Kumar, on May 13, 2024, inside the CM's residence. Kumar has refuted these allegations and written to the Delhi Police for registering an FIR based on his complaint too. On May 18, 2024, the Delhi police arrested Kumar, who is slated to appear before the Tis Hazari Court, according to The Indian Express.
The 49-second video is being shared on X with the caption, "Scene from Delhi CM's official residence Sheesh Mahal @SwatiJaiHind, You should also see how the fight took place in #DelhiCMResidence. This was bound to happen, Swati Maliwal has been beaten up, the beating was done by Kejriwal's PA, news is coming in that there is heavy kicking going on in the CMO, the reason given is that Swati, Marlona, Sanjay, all want to become CM and Kejriwal wants to make his Rabri the Chief Minister, a lot of fighting is still left.*"
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BOOM also received the viral video on WhatsApp number (7700906588) and sought to verify its authenticity.
FACT-CHECK
BOOM's investigation revealed that the viral video depicts a scuffle at the Tis Hazari Court Mediation Center in Delhi and does not depict the alleged assault on Maliwal.
After breaking down the video into keyframes, we conducted a reverse image search using Google, which yielded several posts on Instagram and X. The posts stated that the viral video was from an incident at Tis Hazari Court Mediation Center in Delhi.
We also found several comments from lawyers stating that they were present at the spot after the fight broke out at the Tis Hazari Court Mediation Center.
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We also found a blog from April 2024, filmed at Tis Hazari Court, featuring visuals that match the room shown in the viral video. This confirmation of the location can be seen at the 1:52 timestamp of the blog.
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Additionally, we found several posts with the viral video posted on May 12, 2024, which predates the Swati Maliwal assault case that was reported on the morning of May 13, 2024.
The viral video was posted on May 12, 2024, by the handle @iAtulKrishan1 with the caption, "Clash /Full drama. A video from Delhi's Tis Hazari court has surfaced, showing family members clashing with each other in the mediation room. They came to settle their scores but ended up in conflict with each other"
Claim:
Video shows Swati Maliwal being assaulted inside the Chief Minister’s residence by Arvind Kejriwal’s personal assistant
Claimed By:
Social media posts
Fact Check:
False
(Disclaimer: This story was originally published by BOOM, and republished by India TV as part of the Shakti Collective.)
