Earlier this month, social media was filled with hashtags where some ‘liberals’ were demanding justice for one Rabiya Saifi, a Delhi Civil Defence worker, who was allegedly raped and murdered. One web portal called ‘MuslimMirror’ claimed that she was ‘gang raped’ and her breasts cut off, neck was slit and private parts were mutilated.
It further went on to claim that the officials associated with the District Magistrate’s office in Lajpat Nagar, Delhi may be involved in the crime as she was aware of alleged corrupt activities.
Many who claimed brutalities cited same Muslim Mirror news portal and made sure to emphasise that the rape victim was a Muslim, thereby casting aspersions that she was targeted because of her religious identity.
One Twitter user even claimed her limbs were mutilated and that what Rabiya was subjected to was worse than what Nirbhaya, the 2012 Delhi gang rape victim, had to face.
This piece was also picked up by Pakistani news channels, focus being the religious identity of the woman.
Pakistani journalist, too, joined in to fan the communal hatred.
It must be noted here that the online news portal MuslimMirror has a history of peddling absolute untruths and fake news heavily loaded with communal overtones. Earlier this month, MuslimMirror ran a fake story that Jharkhand Police forced two men into having gay sex and insulting Islam when they were questioned in a criminal case.
In March this year, it led an online campaign after one Asif was murdered over a personal dispute. Muslim Mirror claimed he was murdered by a ‘Hindu mob’ and was forced to ‘chant Jai Shri Ram’, when nothing of that sort happened. He was murdered over an old dispute. Turned out, two-three months prior to his murder, Asif and his gang-mates had tried to kill Patwari, rival gangster, but he somehow managed to escape. That incident is believed to be the main reason behind Asif’s murder.
Radical Islam apologist CJ Werleman, who has been branded as a journalist and was profiled by Shekhar Gupta’s ThePrint also joined in and cast aspersions that no action was taken in the case by the ‘Hindutva government’ because the victim was a Muslim.
However, when the truth about the case was revealed, all the justice warriors seem to have disappeared.
Here is what happened.
The Delhi woman was found brutally murdered on August 26, 2021. Many Islamic organisations also came forward and organised protests seeking justice for her. Amandeep Kaur of Istri Jagrati Manch also claimed that since the BJP government came to power at Centre, crimes against Muslims and Dalits are on the rise.
However, turns out that one 23-year-old Mohammad Nizamuddin had surrendered at Kalindi Kunj Police station and confessed to murdering Rabiya. Turns out the two were working together in Delhi’s Civil Defence. Nizamuddin, while surrendering had said he was married to Rabiya. Both the families seem unaware about the relationship. However, Nizamuddin was suspecting Rabiya of having an affair with her senior Ravindra Mehra and on doubting her character, he killed her.
The police probe is currently underway, but there is a possibility that this was a crime of passion after husband Nizamuddin suspected his wife Rabiya of infidelity. That there may not be any rape or gang-rape involved. However, the first instinct the ‘liberals’ in India had was to give it a communal angle to the crime. That the victim was a Muslim woman and the perpetrator could have been a non-Muslim individual(s) was more important to the ‘liberals’ than the fact that a woman could have been possibly raped and murdered.
After the initial furore, the social media ‘justice’ calls have vanished.
For ‘liberals’, justice for Rabiya is now a thing of past now that they know the prime accused is one Nizamuddin.
Note: Earlier this article identified CJ Werleman as columnist with ThePrint. However, it turns out, he was only ‘profiled’ by Shekhar Gupta’s ThePrint and has not written any article for them. We have updated the copy. Error is regretted.
