A video of a Muslim man brutally thrashed by a mob in the middle of the road is doing rounds on social media. In the video, the man is being heckled by another man with a group of onlookers standing by. The video doesn't have any sound and shows the man sobbing and wiping the blood flowing from his mouth while the other man thrashes him and slaps him towards the end of the 17 seconds-long footage. The incident appears to have taken place under an overpass bridge with several parked vehicles in the background. While sharing this video, people on social media claimed that the viral video is of Delhi where a Muslim man was brutally thrashed by Hindu extremists.
CJ Werleman, Global Correspondent of Byline Times shared this video and wrote, "Muslim man assaulted by mob of Hindu extremists in Delhi, yesterday." However, he later deleted his today. Below you can see the screenshot of his tweet.
A Twitter user wrote, "Muslim man assaulted by mob of Hindu extremists in Delhi, yesterday."
[Trigger Warning: The Logical Indian has not embedded the video due to its strong graphic nature.]
It is being widely shared on Facebook and Twitter with a similar claim.
Claim:
A Muslim man was brutally thrashed by Hindu extremists in Delhi.
Fact Check:
The Logical Indian Fact Check team verified the viral claim and found it to be misleading. No communal angle was involved in this case.
During the initial investigation, we found several people calling out CJ Werleman's tweet and mentioned that no communal angle was involved in it. The tweets suggested that the man was thrashed for alleged stalking and molesting a minor girl. Several people also shared a tweet of ANI which mentions the details of the incident.
According to the tweet of ANI, a man identified as Irfan Khan was arrested for allegedly stalking & misbehaving with a 13-year-old girl. A case has been registered against hum under IPC section 345D and 12 Posco Act.
On searching more, we found several articles which mentioned the details of the viral incident. According to a report of The Indian Express dated 13 May 2022, the viral incident took place in Shahdara, Delhi. The accused was identified as Irfan Khan (37) who was arrested for stalking and molesting a 13-year-old minor girl.
According to a report of Times Of India, R Sathiyasundaram, DCP Shahdara told media, "The 13-year-old victim's parents had lodged a police complaint on May 7 alleging that Khan had been following her for a few days and molested her while she would go for tuition. When she told her parents about this, the girl's parents accompanied her to the tuition class. The parents were standing at some distance from the girl. At around 4.30 pm, the accused came and started misbehaving with the minor. She signalled her parents. When he tried to leave, the parents nabbed the man and attacked him. Later, the locals too joined and beat him up".
We also contacted R Sathiyasundaram, DCP Shahdara who refuted the viral claim. He said, "The viral incident is of Nathu Colony Chowk, Shahdara where a man was thrashed by local for stalking and misbehaving with a minor girl. The accused is identified as Irfan Khan. He works as an accountant in a private firm. The complaint has been lodged and a case under IPC 354D and12 Posco act has been registered. No communal angle involved in this case."
It is evident from our investigation that the viral video is from Shahdara Delhi, where a mob thrashed a Muslim man for stalking and molesting a minor girl. A case under the POCSO act has been lodged against the accused Irfan Khan. There is no communal angle involved in it. Hence, the viral claim is misleading.
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