A message falsely claiming that a girl was raped and killed at suspended Aam Aadmi Party councillor Tahir Hussain's house in North East Delhi recently and her identity has been established has gone viral on social media.
The post includes a girl's photograph and a message which reads "The girl whose clothes were found at Tahir Hussain's terror factory, and whose body was found in a drain nearby, has been identified. She was 13-year-old Jyoti Patidar. The peacefuls (sic) had dragged the girl inside Tahir's house and took turns in raping her. Later they killed her and dumped the body in a drain."
However, post verification BOOM has found out that this claim is false and the photo used in the viral post is of a girl from Madhya Pradesh. According to news reports, the minor was allegedly killed on February 19, in a village in MP.
(Hindi: ताहिर हुसैन के आतंक की फैक्ट्री घर से जिस लड़की के कपड़े बरामद हुवे थे और उसकी नाले में लाश मिली थी, उसकी पहचान हो चुकी है। 13 साल की ज्योति पाटीदार है।
हिंदुओ के घरों पर हमले के बाद, इस लड़की को शांतिदूतो द्वारा ताहिर के घर के अंदर घसीट कर लाया गया, 40-50 शांतिदुतों ने रेप किया और #मारकर_लाश_नाले_में_फेंक_दी
Since the fake post involves a minor, BOOM has decided not to share screenshots on its page. You can view the viral post here and its archived version can be accessed here and here.
It's worth mentioning that Tahir Hussain has been booked by Delhi Police on the charges of murdering an Intelligence Bureau staffer Ankit Sharma during the recent riots in the national capital. Sharma's body was retrieved from a drain near Hussain's house on February 26. The house was also in news as videos showing scores of people pelting stones from its terrace had taken social media by storm since February 24.
Ever since the house has come in news, several unverified narratives around it are being peddled on social media, one of which is about the rape and murder of a teenager inside the house.
Fact Check
BOOM ran a reverse image search on the girl's photograph and found a report published in Hindi daily Dainik Bhaskar on February 21, 2020. Tahir Hussain's house, meanwhile, came in news only on February 24 when video of people pelting stones and petrol bombs (Molotov cocktails) from its terrace went viral.
According to the report, the teenager, a student of class XII, was native of Parsuliykalaan in Madhya Pradesh. BOOM also contacted Aagar superintendent of police who said that the case had no links with Delhi and that the charred body of the girl was found in her house at Parsuliyakalaan village in Aagar district of MP on February 20. The case is under investigation, he said and added that an arrest has been made.
BOOM also came across several other posts shared on Facebook pages from Madhya Pradesh carrying the same photo. None of these posts linked the girl to Delhi or Tahir Hussain.
A scanned copy of police order constituting a Special Investigation Team to look into the murder case
See more posts here and here.
BOOM also found other videos shared on a YouTube channel News 9 Network on February 28, 2020 linking the incident to Aagar, MP.
The video shared below shows women and students protesting against the police department for its lax attitude in investigating the case. In it, one can see protesters holding the same photo that has now gone viral in a fake context.