A video filmed in Turkey in 2020 has resurfaced ahead of April 2024 elections in Hindu-majority India with the false claim that it shows a Muslim man “contaminating a tub of milk” by bathing in it. The original video was filmed in a dairy in Türkiye. Turkish media reported that the man – along with the person who uploaded the clip – was arrested over the video but was later acquitted after a court said the tub was filled with a mixture of water and milk residue, rather than milk be.
“In Kerala… Look at the action of this jihadist. He bathed in a tub of milk, spitting and urinating in it before selling the same milk to Hindus,” reads the Hindi-language caption of a Facebook post shared here on April 15, 2024.
“Find out whether milk companies like Amul and Mother Dairy have employed jihadist employees. If so, then it is clear that you drink the same type of milk.”
The English language text superimposed on the video read: “Muslim man takes bath in milk. He wants to make it halal. Kerala.”
There was also a voice-over in Malayalam saying that the video showed “an employee taking a bath in a tank filled with milk at a dairy”.
“After the video went viral on social media, both the person taking the bath and the person recording it were arrested,” the spokesperson continued. “As a result, the dairy was temporarily closed.”
The video showed a man sitting in a tub filled with a white liquid.
“Jihad” is often translated as holy war, but Hindu hardliners in India use the word as a derogatory term for Muslims.
The false claim emerged ahead of the general election in India, where voting began on April 19 and would last six weeks. Analysts expect Prime Minister Narendra Modi to triumph against a fractious alliance of more than two dozen parties that have yet to name a candidate for prime minister.
Muslims have often been the subject of false allegations in Hindu-majority India. AFP reported that much content was staged to generate views and revenue on platforms such as Facebook and YouTube.
The video was shared elsewhere on Facebook here and here and on social media platform X here with the false claim.
However, the video was filmed in Turkey in 2020. Turkish media reported that the man – along with the person who uploaded the video – was arrested for allegedly intentionally spoiling milk, but was later acquitted after a court was told the liquid in the tub was not milk.
Video from Turkey
A keyword search on Google found the same video published by Turkish news organization Hurriyet Daily News on November 6, 2020 (archived link).
The English-language report was titled: “Workers’ milk bath leads to dairy closure.”
Below is a screenshot comparison of the video shared in the false post (left) and the footage uploaded to the news outlet’s website (right):
Other news outlets also reported on the video and included screenshots showing the same scene here and here (archived links here and here). The reports did not mention the man’s religion.
Hurriyet Daily News reported that the man in the video – Emre Sayar – was arrested after the video was shared online. Ugur Turgut, who uploaded the clip to his TikTok account, was also arrested.
The outlet also reported that the dairy owner said the liquid in the tub was a mixture of water and detergent and not milk.
Turkish news agency DHA said the men were cleared of wrongdoing after the court was told the liquid in the tub was a mixture of water and milk residue and not milk (archived link).
Another court ordered the Turkish state to pay Sayar 1,150 lira ($35) in compensation after he sued authorities for unlawful detention in the case, a separate report said (archived link).
