An image of a woman in sunglasses posing for a photo is being shared with the claim that it shows Karnataka's pro-hijab protester Muskan Khan posing for a photo in London.
The caption shared with the photo purports that Khan has been rewarded with a comfortable life in London by the new Congress government in Karnataka, in exchange for her protests against the previous Bharatiya Janata Party government.
BOOM found this claim to be false; according to our fact-check the woman seen posing in the photo is Radio Mirchi radio jockey Sayema Rehman, and not Muskan Khan.
In February 2022, Khan protested against the ban on hijab in educational institutions in Karnataka, and rose to prominence after a video went viral showing her standing up to a group of anti-hijab protesters who were seen heckling her.
Users shared Rehman's photo, alongside that of an image of Khan during the Hijab row in Karnataka, with a Hindi caption, that translated to English as, "Remember this girl 'Muskan' who fought for hijab rights? She is in London now. Career and life set after BJP protests in Karnataka! Government changed, work done, toolkit complete. @MJ_007Club."
Click here to view an archive of the tweet.
These photos were widely shared by multiple users on Facebook and Twitter with the exact same caption. Click here, here, here, here, here and here to view more such posts.
Fact Check
BOOM did a reverse image search of the viral photo of the woman posing in sunglasses, which led us to a post by Radio Mirchi radio jockey Sayema Rehman from her official Twitter account containing the viral photo. The post also contained other photos of the same woman, posing in different parts of London.
She shared the photos with the caption, "London is beautiful."
We compared all the photos, and found that it shows the exact same person.
We also compared these photos to other images of Rehman, and confirmed that the person seen in the viral video is indeed her, and not Muskan Khan.
BOOM has reached out to both Rehman and Khan, and the article will be updated upon receiving a response.