Old Clip From UP Shared as One From Bihar With a False Communal Spin

Fact-Check | The incident took place in Uttar Pradesh and not Bihar as claimed.

(Photo: Altered by The Quint)

(Trigger Warning: Mention of rape, assault)

A distressing video is being shared to claim that it shows several people from the Hindu community sexually assaulting a minor girl belonging to the Muslim community in Bihar.

What have users said?: People sharing the video have uploaded it with a caption in Hindi, which loosely translates to, "Bihar - Hindu boys took a Muslim girl to the forest and raped her and made the video viral."

(Note: We have refrained from adding any archive links due to the distressing nature of the video.)

The video was shared on 27 December.

(Source: X (formerly Twitter)/Screenshot)

What is the truth?: The viral claim is false as the video is not from Bihar. The incident is from 2019, when three men gangraped a minor Dalit girl in Uttar Pradesh's Kaushambi.

• The accused men were identified as Mohammed Adil, aka Chhotka, aka 'Atankwadi', Mohammed Aqib, aka Barka, and Mohammed Nazim. All of them were sentenced to life imprisonment in 2020.

How did we find that out?: We performed a keyword search on Google and came across a news report published on ABP News, which carried similar visuals as the viral video.

• It mentioned that all the accused in the gangrape case in Sarai Akil area were arrested by the police.

• The report identified the accused as Mohammad Nazim, Mohammad Aqib aka Barka and Mohammad Chhotka aka Atankwadi.

The report was published on 26 September 2019.

(Source: ABP News/Screenshot)

• As per a report published in Aaj Tak, Mohammed Adil aka Chhotka was nabbed in the Pipri police station area. He was shot in both legs after he opened fire on the police team in an attempt to escape.

• It mentioned that the minor girl belonged to the Dalit community.

• The report further said that the police allegedly misbehaved with the victim's father, when he reached the police station to complain against the accused.

The report was published on 25 September 2019.

(Source: Aaj Tak/Screenshot)

Other sources: A video uploaded on an unverified YouTube channel named 'NYOOOZ UP - Uttarakhand' included a statement from the victim, who said that she was raped when she went to cut grass in the garden.

• When the victim asked who were the accused, she replied by saying "Muslim."

• The victim's father alleged that he was beaten with sticks by the police when he went to file a complaint.

Statement from the police: Further, we found a statement from the Additional Director General of Police, Prayagraj Zone.

• The video was uploaded on 22 September 2019 and its caption said that one accused has been arrested and search for the others are underway.

• It further mentioned that action will be taken against those forwarding or sharing the viral video.

Life imprisonment for all accused: As per multiple news reports, a special court judge sentenced all the accused in the case to life imprisonment under the POCSO Act. A fine of Rs 1 lakh 83 thousand was also imposed on each accused.

Conclusion: It is clear that an incident from Uttar Pradesh is being shared on the internet with a false communal spin.

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