A video had gone viral on social media wherein a Muslim woman alleged that some miscreants pulled her burqa and forced her brother to chant ‘Jai Shri Ram’. The lady, who identified herself as one Shaheen, a resident of Delhi’s Sadar Bazar, alleged that the incident took place on the intervening night of April 11 and 12 while she was returning from her in-law’s house. The Delhi Police, on the other hand, has called the allegations false and bereft of merit.
कैसे गढ़े जाते हैं फर्जी नैरेटिव व कैसे दी जाती है उसको हवा?
— Rahul Pandey (Journalist) (@STVRahul) April 14, 2022
बुर्का खींचने और जय श्री राम के नारे लगवाने की मनगढ़ंत स्टोरी कैसे फ्लॉप की @DelhiPolice के @DcpNorthDelhi ने
अगर सचेत न होती पुलिस तो अब तक चिड़ियाघर का भालू #Islamophobia की डुगडुगी बजा रहा होता@CPDelhi @AmitShah pic.twitter.com/r3oZ34Mlko
The Delhi police said that an investigation into the case has revealed that the woman had a long-running tenancy dispute with the accused. When she was asked to vacate her house, she gave the entire matter a communal colour.
In the viral video, the woman is heard alleging, “I was returning home at 2 am after seeing my father-in-law. My brother, who was accompanying me, was walking behind me. Three rowdy boys of my neighbourhood, one of whom is Rahul, pulled my burqa’s sleeve. He stated that we will compel Muslim women to take off their burqas. When my brother attempted to save me, they forced him into saying Jai Shri Ram. The miscreants stated that they will not permit Muslims to stay in the locality.”
According to the information gathered, the woman had also filed a complaint in the matter with the Sadar Bazar police on Tuesday, April 12.
Delhi Police confirmed it as a tenancy dispute
The Delhi police, while investigating the case, termed the allegations meted out by Shaheen as baseless. Speaking about the case, North Delhi DCP Sagar Singh Kalsi said, “On April 12, 2022, the Sadar Bazar police received a call saying that a fight had ensued in the area in the wee hours of the morning. The woman who called stated that some boys had gotten into an argument with her. The police arrived on the scene and began an investigation. Following an investigation, it was discovered that the complainant and the accused were acquainted with one another and that their tenancy dispute is also being litigated in court.”
The DCP went on to say that he is aware that some social media users are attempting to cast the issues in a communal light. This is completely incorrect, and any dissemination of such a false message will be considered a crime and dealt with strictly.
According to media reports, Shaheen, the woman who was seen in the video making the allegations, is said to have gone back on her statement in front of the police. The three accused boys are said to be landlords of the house where Shaheen has been living. They have been attempting to get their house vacated from her. On that night too, the youths had got into an argument with Shaheen on the same matter. The three boys were said to have been under the influence of alcohol at the time of the incident.
Farhan and Shadab were the first to share the video online
Notably, a journalist named Farhan Yahiya, working for Hindustan Live had first shared the aforementioned video on the Facebook page of the news portal. He had captioned the post, “A woman wearing a burqa and accompanied by her brother was mistreated. According to the brother and sister, they were forced to raise Jai Shri Ram slogans. A complaint has been filed at the Sadar police station. A young man was apprehended by the police. Two people have been released from custody.”
Farhan removed the Facebook post after receiving a stern warning from the Delhi Police. However, by that time, the post had gone viral.
Similarly, on 13 April, a person named Shadab shared the same incident on his YouTube channel ‘The Shadab World News’. He too gave a communal colour to the incident. It’s appalling that despite a warning from the Delhi Police, Shadab has not deleted the video from the social media platform.
