A video (here, here and here) is going viral on social media showing a group of people physically assaulting a girl, with the claim that the video shows Muslims molesting a Hindu girl in West Bengal.
Claim: The viral video shows a Muslim mob assaulting a Hindu girl in West Bengal.
Fact: The video is from Rampur, Uttar Pradesh, and dates back to May 2017. It shows a group of Muslim youths molesting two girls in a village under the Tanda police station in Rampur district. The video has no connection to West Bengal. Hence, the claim is MISLEADING.
To find the truth, we did a reverse image search on Google, which led us to news videos on YouTube that included the same viral clip (here and here). The video was reported on 28 May 2017, and the caption states the incident happened in Rampur, Uttar Pradesh, not West Bengal, as claimed.
Further research led us to news reports that included the viral video (here, here and here). According to these, the incident happened in May 2017 in Rampur, Uttar Pradesh, where 14 youths were seen molesting two girls in broad daylight and filming it. Police registered an FIR under IPC Sections 354A, 354B, and the IT Act. The main accused, Shahnawaz, was arrested, and others were being traced. No complaint was filed by the victims’ families—police acted after the video went viral.
Furthermore, to gather more information about the incident, we visited the Uttar Pradesh Police website and reviewed the FIR filed in the case. According to the FIR, 14 individuals were accused, including Shahnawaz (son of Farooq), Saddam (son of Umar Dudhiya), Fazil (son of Abid), Danish (son of Nanhe), Sarfaraz (son of Yusuf), Naved (son of Nadeem Mullaji), Bhura (son of Shamshad), Babu (son of Munabbar), Nadeem (son of Salim), Qasim (son of Salim), Farman (son of Panch alias Name Ali), Rahees (son of Shakeel), Jane Alam (son of Kalva), and Siraj (son of Shabbe). However, the identities of the victims were not disclosed in the FIR.
Further search revealed that a Special SC/ST Court in Rampur district issued the final judgment in this case on 11 June 2024, convicting the accused. Based on the court proceedings, it is evident that the accused belong to the Muslim community, while the victims were non-Muslims from the SC/ST community.
Additionally, we found no reports of such an assault in West Bengal recently, and the viral video has no connection to the state. The same video had gone viral earlier with a false claim that it happened in Telangana — we had debunked that back then.
To sum up, a 2017 video showing a group assaulting two girls in Rampur, Uttar Pradesh, is shared as an incident from West Bengal.
