Fact-Check: Old Image From Brazil Viral as Hindu Girl Found in Freezer in Assam

This is an old case from Brazil and has falsely been shared as one from Assam, India.

Fact-Check: This photo is from Brazil and not India.

(Source: The Quint) 

[Trigger Warning: Description of abuse and murder.]

An image of a lifeless body in a freezer has emerged on social media, with users claiming it was of an alleged rape and murder incident concerning an interfaith couple in Assam.

The claim: It is alleged that a man named Muhammad Sabir Miyan, with his companions, gang-raped his Hindu live-in partner Kajal and ultimately caused her to freeze to death.

Users gave this image a communal spin, urging every Hindu to be familiar with this story.

A screenshot of the image. 

(Source: X/Screenshot) 

(We have refrained from adding archives due to the triggering nature of the image.)

We also received a query about this on our WhatsApp tipline.

Is the claim true?: No, the claim is false.

• Assam Police has labeled the viral claim as untrue. The viral image is more than ten years old and originates from Brazil.

What we found: At first, we ran a Google and Yandex reverse image search on the image and were led to a blog post from 4 March 2010. It stated that the image was from a murder that occurred in Brazil.

• The article reports that a 45-year-old man murdered his wife and stored her body in a freezer at his residence in Osasco, located in Brazil’s Greater Sao Paulo area.

• It included the viral image in the report.

• We, then, ran a relevant keyword search and found reports from 2010.

• The reports noted that the local police said that the woman's body was discovered frozen and curled up in the appliance at the couple's residence.

• The police further mentioned that the suspect asserted self-defence, alleging that the woman was attempting to poison him. He claimed he murdered the woman through asphyxiation.

Assam police debunked claim in 2022: The viral claim first emerged in 2022. The Assam Police debunked the claim in an X post, and noted that the image was circulated in a misleading context.

• They wrote, "Appropriate action will be taken against those found sharing such messages." (sic.)

Conclusion: An old image from Brazil has gone viral with a false communal claim as one from Assam.

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