On 17 July 2023, Adnan, a resident of
Madhya Pradesh's
Ujjain, would not have thought that a mere rumour would change his life forever while heading home after closing his soda shop.
Adnan, along with his younger brother and two neighborhood children, went to the balcony of the neighbouring house. At the same time, the Mahakal procession was seen passing on the road. Some people recorded Adnan and his friends, about which Adnan had no idea.
In the evening, police personnel from the nearby Khara Kuan police station arrived and arrested Adnan. It was then that he and his family learned that he had been accused of spitting on the
Mahakal procession.
Was Adnan seen spitting on the procession in the video? No. Was there any other evidence to prove that Adnan had spit? No. So, on what basis was he arrested? It was only on the claim of the people who shared the video, who said that they saw Adnan spitting.
The police's alleged action didn't stop there. The next day, the administration arrived at Adnan's house with a DJ and dhol-nagadas and demolished his house with a bulldozer.
When asked about his house's demolition, Adnan said,
"I didn’t know my house was demolished by a bulldozer. My family didn’t want to tell me because they didn’t want me to worry. So, they didn’t tell me. Eventually, I found out about two months later."
Adnan, main accused in the case
The Quint's fact-checking team,
WebQoof, is bringing stories of similar people in this special series 'Fake News, Real Impact' who suffered due to a rumour. We went to Ujjain to identify the people who had levelled the allegations, how true these allegations were, and whether the police investigated the accusations in the way they should have.
What Is the Truth Behind the Claims of Spitting on the Mahakal Procession?
Our team went to the place where the video was filmed to uncover all the details of the case. The original version of the viral clip, which was provided by Adnan's family, clearly showed that Adnan was not doing anything. So, why did the police make him the main accused in the case?
"Since Adnan was the only adult among the children standing on the balcony, he was made the main accused."
Ashraf, Adnan's father
Additionally, the video based on which the First Information Report (FIR) was filed clearly showed the chewing gum spit by another child standing next to Adnan fell on the window and not the road below.
This raises the question - did the police assume without investigating the video that the children standing on the balcony had spat on the procession?
The BJP leader, Masoom Jaiswal, claimed that he had filmed the video on the basis of which the FIR was filed. He is also a witness in this case. However, Jaiswal lives in Indore, which is about 50 kilometers away from the incident site. We met him to find out if he had any evidence which could prove that Adnan indeed spat on the Mahakal procession.
In response, Jaiswal showed us another video where a boy was spotted holding a water bottle in a balcony. Jaiswal claimed that the boy in the clip was rinsing his mouth or gargling.
But we did not see anybody rinsing their mouth or gargling in the video. When we asked Jaiswal about this, he responded by saying, "
Fake News, Real Impact | Find out how a rumour of spitting on a religious procession led to the arrest and the house demolition of Adnan in Ujjain. Check the new episode of 'Fake News, Real Impact' to find out more.
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