Daijiworld Media Network - Mangaluru

Mangaluru, May 29: A 2008 video which shows police lathicharging people at St Sebastian Church in Permannur in Mangaluru, has gone viral again on social media with a misleading caption claiming that Tamil Nadu police 'raided' a church at Tuticorin where 'petrol bombs' were being prepared.

The caption accompanying the viral video falsely states, "Church was the training centre for preparation of petrol bombs and creating riots. This is one of the church raided by TN police at Tuticorin after the riots. Could this continuous usage of religious place for anti social activities be allowed? Main stream media is not covering this".

This video claimed that the incident took place in Tuticorin, Tamil Nadu, which recently hit headlines for anti-Sterlite protests that took 13 lives. The video became viral in a short time especially on WhatsApp.

Screenshot from video

Incidentally, this very same 10-year-old video had become viral immediately after the Karnataka assembly election results were announced in mid-May, with a misleading caption that RSS and BJP cadres had run amok in Mangaluru, attacking and vandalising a church. However, Daijiworld had carried a report with clarification that the incident happened in the St Sebastian Church in Permannur.

According to Alt News which debunked the recent Tuticorin church attack news, "the video and images are mischievously placed out of context and shared widely often carry the message that mainstream media has not reported the said incident. This is a tactic that works because these ‘reports’ are usually fake and understandably do not find space in mainstream news outlets. Many of these videos and photos are also often shared in completely opposing contexts".