Jharkhand student protests began on 25 July 2026 over alleged irregularities in the 14th JPSC Preliminary and JSSC-CGL examinations, including allegations of OMR tampering. Led by student leader Devendra Nath Mahto, protesters have demanded cancellation of the exams and an independent CBI probe. On 10 August 2026, thousands of students marched towards the Jharkhand Assembly, where police used lathi charges and water cannons. The government has since agreed to cancel three JPSC examinations, but students continue to demand a CBI probe into the alleged irregularities. As of 13 August 2026, the protests have entered their 20th day, with Mahto continuing his hunger strike and political support for the movement growing (here, here, here, and here).

Amid this, a video is being shared on social media (here, here, and here) with the claim that it shows a woman crying after being subjected to a police lathi charge during the students’ protest in Jharkhand. Let’s verify the claim made in the post in this article.

The archived post can be found here.

Claim: The video shows a woman crying after being subjected to a police lathi charge during the recent students’ protest in Jharkhand.

Fact: The video does not show a woman crying after being lathi-charged during the recent Jharkhand student protests. The video is from a student protest in Patna, Bihar, held in July 2026, and predates the 10 August 2026 police action in Ranchi. Hence, the claim made in the post is Misleading.

On closely examining the viral video, we noticed a microphone bearing the logo of Darsh News. A search for the news outlet led us to its YouTube channel, where we found a video uploaded on 22 July 2026 containing the same visuals. The video features a longer version of the incident and identifies the location as Patna, Bihar.

According to the report, the incident took place during a student protest in Patna, where demonstrators were demanding the resignation of Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan. Despite multiple police barricades near the Hartali More flyover, the protesters broke through the barricades and continued marching towards Lok Bhawan. The situation escalated when some protesters allegedly threw bottles and sticks, following which the police resorted to a lathi charge to disperse the crowd. Both male and female students participated in the protest.

We also found a video shared by another YouTube channel, MY PDA Samachar, on 23 July 2026. The video features the same woman and states that the incident is from a student protest in Patna.

Notably, Jharkhand Police lathi-charged student protesters and used water cannons and tear gas to disperse them in Ranchi on 10 August 2026, after the protesters breached barricades while attempting to reach the Jharkhand Assembly.

We searched for Hartali More Flyover in Patna and geolocated the place shown in the viral video to Hartali Chowk, Patna. The buildings visible in the viral video can also be seen in Google Maps Street View at the same location. The comparison can be seen below.

To sum up, an old protest video from Patna is shared as that of a woman crying after police action during the Jharkhand student protest.