This photo was taken in 2008 at a protest in Nepal

This article is more than one year old.
Published on January 13, 2020 at 06:30
2 min read
By AFP India

A photo of uniformed security personnel clashing with a group of women has been shared thousands of times in multiple Facebook and Twitter posts in January 2020 that claim that it shows mistreatment of women in Assam, a state in northeast India. The claim is false; this photo was taken by the Reuters news agency in 2008 at a demonstration in Kathmandu, the capital of Nepal.

The image was published here on Facebook on January 3, 2020.

Below is a screenshot of the misleading post:

Screenshot of misleading Facebook post

The post’s Hindi-language caption translates to English as: “What was happening with women in Kashmir till yesterday is now happening with the women in Assam and you think nothing will happen with the women in your family? You are living in denial, today you are silent tomorrow we will be silent. But no, we have been vocal against this previously, even today and we will continue to speak in future if this sort of thing happens with you.”

Kashmir, a disputed area in north India, has experienced unrest since the Indian government in August 2019 stripped the region of its long-held autonomous status. Here is an AFP report on the issue.

Assam has also seen deadly protests recently over a new citizenship law. AFP reports on the issue can be seen here and here.

The same image was also shared with similar claims here, here, here, here and here on Facebook, and here and here on Twitter.

However, the claim is false; a reverse image search on Yandex found that the photo was originally published here by Reuters on March 24, 2008.

Below is a screenshot of the Reuters image:

Screenshot of original image

The photo’s caption reads: “A Tibetan protester struggles with police officers in front of the United Nations building in Kathmandu March 24, 2008. Nepali police broke up an anti-China rally by Tibetan exiles in Kathmandu on Monday, detaining 250 protesters in the latest in a series of demonstrations. Police holding plastic shields dragged the protesters into iron-meshed vans and trucks and drove them to detention centres, witnesses said. Witnesses said some exiles were also hurt in the scuffle. REUTERS/Deepa Shrestha (NEPAL).”

Reuters also published a report about the protests in Nepal here on March 24, 2008.

Is there content that you would like AFP to fact-check? Get in touch.

E-mail