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Viral Video Of Disturbing Murder In Baharampur, Murshidabad Shared With False Love Jihad Claim
West Bengal, 5 May 2022 11:58 AM GMT
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BJP leader Kapil Mishra had quote tweeted the viral video and claimed that the murder was an incident of 'love-jihad'. He wrote, "Yesterday it was in Mumbai, Today it is in Murshidabad ...Everyday Hindu Girls are getting killed in almost every state, every district #LoveJihad has become most serious threat. Time to talk about it."
A video of a man stabbing a woman is being circulated online with a communal claim. The video is being shared in the context of misinformation being spread across social media regarding 'Love Jihad'
There have been reports of 'Love Jihad' spreading across social media. Social networking platforms are rife with allegations of love jihad following the recent instances of communal violences across India.
Claim:
The viral video of thirty seconds shows a man screaming at someone. He is seen holding a knife. The man is gesturing at a woman lying on the ground. She seems unresponsive and unconscious. It is being claimed that the viral video is of a love jihad case where a Muslim man killed a Hindu woman.
A Twitter user shared this video and wrote a text which reads, "Welcome to the Islamic State of Bengal. Love Jihad case in Baharampur, Murshidabad. Hindu girl refused to accept his religion of peace so he stabbed her in public."
The text on the bottom of the video states: "Hindu Girl Stabbed By Buslim For Not Accepting His Proposal in WB". The spelling of Muslim is purposefully misspelt to avoid hate speech filters on Twitter and other platforms.
[Trigger Warning: The Logical Indian has not embedded the video due to its graphic nature and strong language.]
BJP leader Kapil Mishra also quote tweeted the viral video and claimed that the murder was an incident of 'love-jihad'. He wrote, "Yesterday it was in Mumbai, Today it is in Murshidabad ...Everyday Hindu Girls are getting killed in almost every state, every district #LoveJihad has become most serious threat. Time to talk about it." He later deleted the tweet. Below you can see the screenshot of his tweet.
It is being widely shared on social media with a similar claim.
Fact Check:
The Logical Indian fact check team verified the viral claim and found it to be false. SP Murshidabad confirmed that no communal angle was involved in this case.
We conducted a keyword search with the relevant keywords such as "Baharampur, Murshidabad and murder" to check the veracity of the social media posts.
We came across this report by KolkataTV which carried a snapshot from the viral video in its thumbnail. The report carried the title "Murshidabad Murder: After student murder in Bahrampur, many students are leaving in mass out of fear". The report talked about a murder that took place in Baharampur also known as Berhampore located in Murshidabad district of West Bengal.
The report mentioned the name of the victim as Sutapa Chowdhury and the assailant as Susanta Chowdhury. Taking this information, we conducted another keyword search and found this report by The Indian Express.
The report contained more details about the incident stating that Sutapa Chowdhury, a 21-year old woman who was a third-year student at Berhampore Girls' College, was murdered outside of her college mess.
As per the report, the accused called the victim on her mobile phone around 7 pm on Monday, 2nd May, asking her to settle an argument. As soon as she came out of the mess, the assailant attacked her. Some neighbours tried to help but the accused threatened to kill them.
The police said that after the crime, the accused tried to escape to Malda but was arrested on the way. The preliminary investigation by the police gave the understanding that the accused had been in a relationship with the victim. However, she had ended the relationship and moved to Behrampore for studies.
We also came across this report by Hindustan Times which confirmed the details. This News18 Bangla report contained footage that matched the viral video.
We then conducted a keyword search across Twitter and came across this statement uploaded by West Bengal Police.
The statement gave detailed information about the incident where no communal angle was mentioned.
We also contacted Inspector Biswajit from Murshidabad police station regarding the viral video. He told us that no communal angle was involved in this case as both the party belong to the same (Hindu) community.
Conclusion:
The caption claims that a Hindu girl was assaulted by a Muslim man after she refused her advances and didn't marry him to convert to Islam. The claim states that the video depicts the aftermath of this situation which allegedly took place in Baharampur, Murshidabad, West Bengal.
While the incident took place in Baharampur, Murshidabad but was actually it is an alleged case of a jilted lover murdering a woman. The accused Susanta Chowdhury was arrested by police and the media reports indicate that there was no communal angle in the incident.
If you have any news that you believe needs to be fact-checked, please email us at factcheck@thelogicalindian.com or WhatsApp at 6364000343.
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