Fact Check: Viral Charminar Video of Foreigner Confronting Locals Is Not Recent
India has seen a massive rise in interest toward vloggers, with a surge in the creation and consumption of lifestyle
foreign tourist abuse
India has seen a massive rise in interest toward vloggers, with a surge in the creation and consumption of lifestyle, travel, food, family, and fitness vlogs. With more foreign travellers visiting different Indian cities and filming their experiences, incidents involving them often go viral on social media. A video showing a foreign traveller being verbally abused by local boys and confronting them is going viral on social media, with several users tagging police officials.
Users shared the video with captions such as, “It is truly concerning to witness such incidents. What is happening within the @shocharminar limits? Tourists visiting India, especially Hyderabad, should experience our culture, hospitality, and respect. The use of inappropriate language toward a foreign woman is unacceptable.”
Some users also tagged She Teams and Hyderabad Commissioner of Police C.V. Anand (Sajjanar) urging action against the youngsters involved. One post read:
“Dear CP Hyd @SajjanarVC Garu, outsiders who don’t even belong to Hyderabad Old City are regularly troubling tourists at #Charminar. In this video, a foreigner and his wife were abused with foul language. This is spoiling Hyderabad’s global image. Requesting @hydcitypolice @charminarps to take strict action. Let them know @SajjanarVC has taken charge now! Cc @TG_SheTeams @CPHydCity.”
Here is the screenshot of the claim.
Fact Check:
The claim is Misleading. The video is not recent, the incident took place in September 2023.
When keyframes from the viral video were extracted and searched using reverse image search, multiple posts indicated that it is an old video. An X user also shared a post by PS Charminar confirming this.
The official X handle of Charminar Police Station issued a clarification:
“It has come to our notice that a video involving a foreign national woman near a tourist spot in the city has been circulated on social media. After verification, it is found that the video pertains to an old recording (from 2023) uploaded by a foreign vlogger on his YouTube channel. The same was recently reshared on another platform. Citizens are requested not to share or react to such old videos without verifying the facts.”
The official X handle of Telangana Fact Check also refuted the claim, stating that the video showing a foreign tourist being verbally abused near Charminar is old. According to the police, it dates back about three years. The IT Cell is verifying the footage. No formal complaint has been filed yet, but the Charminar SHO has been informed and appropriate action will be taken if necessary.
Upon further search, the foreign vlogger’s X handle “Daily Jay” was found linked to the YouTube channel “Jaystreazy2.” The viral video was posted on August 29, 2024, with the title “Confronting an insult.” The description includes links to his social media handles.
We also found another video published on the channel “Jaystreazy VODs” titled “12/9/2023 - HYDERABAD! Factor 🇮🇳 INDIA-THON 🇮🇳 DAY 19 🇮🇳 #Factor75Partner” on December 21, 2023. In this vlog, the traveller interacts with several people across Hyderabad, visiting prominent city landmarks. The viral segment appears at the 3:27:00 timestamp of this video. According to this footage, the incident took place near Charminar on September 12, 2023, confirming that it is not recent.
Therefore, the viral video is old and dates back to September 2023. The claim that a foreigner was verbally abused recently near Charminar is Misleading.