A viral set of images showing what appears to be a woman before and after an acid attack is being circulated across social media. The images have been shared with the viral claim of love-jihad, a right-wing conspiracy theory about how Muslim men seduce Hindu women to forcibly convert them to Islam.
Claim:
The viral image shows a woman on the left side of the image and a woman with a disfigured face on the other side. The viral image caption reads in Hindi, “Her Abdul was also not like that. Look at the painting he did.”
It is being widely shared on Facebook and Twitter with a similar claim.
Fact Check:
We conducted a reverse image search and came across a report by The Sun published on October 29, 2017. The report is titled, ‘TIME TO STOP HIDING’ Model horrifically burned in sick ‘acid attack’ shares incredible recovery photo’.
The Sun report reads, “A model left with horrific burns after a sickening “acid attack” on her birthday has posted another incredible recovery photo. Resham Khan, 21, was allegedly doused with corrosive liquid while sitting in a car with her cousin, who also suffered “life-changing” burns, in Beckton, east London.”
Taking a cue from this, we conducted a keyword search and came across a report published by The Independent on October 30, 2017. The report is titled, ‘East London acid attack victim Resham Khan shares powerful photo of recovery and says it’s ‘time to stop hiding’.
The Independent report noted that Resham Khan, an aspiring model who suffered horrific burns in an acid attack on her 21st birthday, said it was “time to stop hiding” as she posted a photo showing her remarkable recovery.
“Resham Khan was praised as “courageous” and “an inspiration” after sharing the selfie on social media, where she has previously told of being “too petrified to walk to the shop”, the Independent report noted.
In the report is embedded a tweet uploaded by Resham Khan on October 29, 2017. The image shows her after facial reconstructive surgery.
As per the report, John Tomlin, of Canning Town, east London, this month pleaded guilty to two counts of inflicting grievous bodily harm on Ms Khan and her cousin Jameel Muhktar, 37, who also suffered extensive burns when they were doused with a corrosive substance through the window of their car in Beckton, east London, on 21 June.
As per a BBC report, Tomlin, pleaded guilty to causing grievous bodily harm with intent and inflicting grievous bodily harm and was sentenced to 16 years imprisonment.
Khan’s cousin Mukhtar said he and his cousin were targeted due to their religion. “It’s definitely a hate crime. I believe it’s something to do with Islamophobia. Maybe he’s got it in for Muslims because of the things that have been going on lately,” he said in 2018, as per a Guardian report.
As per the Guardian report, the unprovoked acid attack on two Muslim cousins in east London is now being treated by police as a hate crime. “Mukhtar, 37, said that if the roles had been reversed and an Asian man had attacked an English couple with acid, “the whole country knows it would be classed as a terror attack”. He described the constant pain he was experiencing as like “somebody’s ironing me 24/7” and said he was an emotional wreck,” the Guardian report said.
However, as per a report by the Independent, Tomlin was diagnosed as ’emotionally unstable’ with a personality disorder. Tomlin has several other convictions, such as robbery, violent behaviour and theft.
Conclusion:
We found that the viral post was shared with .a false communal angle. The image shows Resham Khan, the victim of an acid attack, at the hands of John Tomlin, who was reportedly ’emotionally unstable’. The attack was also treated as an Islamaphobic crime by police.
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Fact Check
2023-05-31 10:16:35.0
Does This Image Of An Acid Attack Victim Contain The Love-Jihad Angle? No, Viral Claim Is False
