A video showing a young boy stab a school girl in Belgharia, North 24 Parganas, West Bengal, is being shared with the false and communal claim that the accused is a Muslim.
BOOM reached out to Belgharia Police who dismissed the viral claim stating that both the accused and victim are Hindu.
Post falsely claims Hindu girl stabbed by Muslim youth
The video is being shared on Facebook and Instagram with the same communal claim.
The video was posted on Instagram by @naziaelahikhan_ with the caption, "Just watch how A Muslim boy stabbed a Hindu girl in broad daylight!! *Hindus are not SAFE under Mamata Raj!* Shocking!! Situation is horrible in WB. Will soon spread to Kolkata and rest of neihbouring states as well, where infiltrated Muslims from BD/Myanmar are being pushed from Bengal with paid Adhar/Voter ID/ and Ration Cards++ so keep voting TMC, to see more!! This can happen anytime with me too @MamataOfficial @KolkataPolice kindly take proper legal action, West Bengal is not Islamic state kindly understand @kolkata_police100"
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FACT-CHECK: Stabbing Incident Given False Communal Spin
BOOM found that the accused youth in the viral video seen stabbing the victim are both from the same community.
News reports on stabbing incident identity the accused
We broke the video into keyframes and ran a reverse image search using Google Lens which results showed news reports from this month where the accused has been identified as Abhijit Dutta who had stabbed a 14 year old girl.
Dutta, a young man from Prafulla Nagar in Belgharia, attacked a 14-year-old girl in broad daylight on September 4, 2024, stabbing her at least three times with a sharp weapon after she allegedly slapped him in response to a lewd comment he made reported The Times Of India on September 5, 2024.
The report further addd that her mother was also injured while trying to protect her. The class 12 student, who suffered serious injuries to her shoulders, neck, and head, was admitted to a private hospital and underwent surgery.
The news report below has the same visuals as in the viral video
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The report stated that Dutta had proposed to the victim and she had turned him down. After the attack, bystanders apprehended the youth and beat him so severely that he lost consciousness. This can be seen in the viral video. Officers from the Belgharia police station took him to a hospital. Following a complaint from the girl’s family, an FIR was filed against him at the Belgharia police station.
Police Statement on Belgharia stabbing incident.
Taking a hint from this, we then contacted Belgharia police who denied the communal claim.
BOOM reached out to Officer-In-charge Subhrajit Majumder, Belgharia Police, who denied the viral claim. "There is no communal angle to this, both the accused and victim are from the same community," Majumder told BOOM.