A video of a young man sexually harassing a schoolgirl in Shillong, Meghalaya, is being shared with a false communal claim
A video showing a young man misbehaving with a girl in a school uniform is being widely shared across social media platforms. In the footage, a masked man can be seen sexually assaulting a schoolgirl by lifting her skirt and taking photographs with a mobile phone. This video is being shared with the claim that a Muslim man, who filmed himself lifting a schoolgirl’s skirt, has been arrested by Assam Police (here, here, here, and here). The same video is also being shared, linking the incident to Uttar Pradesh (here, here, and here). In this article, we will fact-check the claims made in these posts.
Claim: The video shows a Muslim man sexually assaulting a schoolgirl in Assam/Uttar Pradesh
Fact: This viral video actually depicts an incident that occurred in the Umsohsun area, under the jurisdiction of Lumdiengjri Police Station in Shillong, Meghalaya, on 23 May 2025. According to reports, the East Khasi Hills police identified the accused in this incident as 24-year-old Himan Gogoi, a resident of Jorhat, Assam. He was apprehended from within the limits of Jorhat’s Teok Police Station on 29 May 2025. Speaking to Factly, Superintendent of Police (City), East Khasi Hills, Herbert Pyniaid Kharkongor confirmed that the accused, Himan Gogoi, is not a Muslim. Hence the claim made in the post is FALSE.
To gather more details about the viral video, we conducted a relevant keyword search on Google. This search led us to a news bulletin video uploaded on the official YouTube channel of the news outlet ‘Northeast Live’, which reported on the visuals seen in the viral clip. The video was shared on 29 May 2025 with the title: “Masked Attacker Nabbed in Assam Days After Viral Video of Schoolgirl Assault in Shillong”. According to the news bulletin, the East Khasi Hills Police arrested a 24-year-old man named Himan Gogoi from Jorhat, Assam, in connection with a case of sexual harassment of a schoolgirl in the Umsohsun area, under the jurisdiction of Lumdiengjri Police Station in Shillong.
Taking this as a cue to learn more details about this incident, we conducted a relevant keyword search. This search led us to multiple news reports about the incident (here, here, and here). According to these reports, the incident seen in the viral video occurred on 23 May 2025, at around 6:35 am, in Umsohsun, in the lane leading to the YWCA. An FIR regarding this incident was lodged at the Lumdiengjri Police Station under Case No. 55(05)2025, registered under Sections 76/79 of the BNS and Sections 11/12 of the POCSO Act. A similar incident involving another schoolgirl reportedly took place between 7:15 and 7:30 am on 19 May 2025 near the steps at Dreamland, Police Bazar. An FIR for this incident was registered at Sadar Police Station under Case No. 140(05)2025, under Sections 7/8 of the POCSO Act.
As per the reports, East Khasi Hills SP Vivek Syiem stated that a special team was formed on 26 May 2025 under the leadership of Additional SP (Operations), East Khasi Hills, Ivan B. Diengdoh, to identify and arrest the accused. Within three days, the accused was identified as Himan Gogoi from Jorhat, Assam. A police team, led by Women Police Sub-Inspector (WPSI) Lavinia Kongwang, left for Jorhat on 28 May 2025 and apprehended the accused on 29 May 2025 in Bamkukurachhua village, under the jurisdiction of Teok Police Station in Jorhat, Assam. The FIR registered at Lumdiengjri Police Station regarding the incident seen in the viral video can be found here.
Furthermore, to obtain more information about the incident, we contacted the East Khasi Hills Police. Speaking to Factly, the Superintendent of Police (City), East Khasi Hills, Herbert Pyniaid Kharkongor, stated that the accused in this incident has been identified as Himan Gogoi from Assam. He has been arrested and produced before the court. He also confirmed that the accused, Himan Gogoi, is not a Muslim. Based on this information, it is clear that the individual who sexually assaulted the schoolgirl in the viral video is not a Muslim.
To sum it up, this incident, involving a masked man sexually assaulting a schoolgirl by lifting her skirt and taking photographs, took place in Shillong, Meghalaya, on 23 May 2025. The accused in this case is not a Muslim.