A video showing a group of men around a girl, pulling her burqa, and filming the event is being shared on social media.
The claim: Those sharing wrote that several Hindu men mistreated a Muslim girl in Muzaffarnagar, Uttar Pradesh.
(Archives of similar claims can be found here and here.)
We received a query about this on our WhatsApp tipline number.
Is the claim true?: No, the claim is false.
As per reports and confirmation by the police, the men who harassed the girl belonged to the same community as her, that is, the Muslim community.
Local police denied the alleged communal angle in this incident.
What we found: At first, we ran a relevant keyword search and came across the same video uploaded by India Today on 14 April.
They noted that a Muslim girl was harassed for riding with a Hindu boy in Muzaffarnagar.
A report by Dainik Bhaskar noted that a Muslim girl employed as a collection agent at a small finance firm was with her colleague, a Hindu boy, identified as Sachin. The two were riding on a bike after collecting money from a customer on 12 April.
Later, several men halted their vehicle and inquired about their names and subsequently assaulted them. They, even, pulled and removed the girl's burqa.
Police comments: We found a post by the city police on their official X handle where the City Circle Officer Raju Sab stated that six individuals were arrested and a case had been registered under relevant sections.
Similarly, another post by the police featuring a newspaper clipping noted the name of the same six individuals.
The Quint, then, reached out to the Station House Officer of Khalapur police station (under which the incident took place), Mahavir Singh Chauhan, who denied the communal angle. The SHO said all accused were Muslims, like the girl and a case had been registered against them.
Additionally, NDTV, uploaded a clip of the accused with the police featuring the same names as mentioned earlier.
No news reports or police statements have mentioned a communal matter in this regard.
Conclusion: The video of a girl being harassed by a group of men has been shared with a false communal claim.
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