A disturbing picture showing the naked body of a woman in a freezer is being widely shared on social media platforms, claiming that a girl named Kajal, who was in a relationship with a Muslim boy, was raped and murdered by seven Muslim boys in Assam (here, here, here, here, & here). According to the post, she was placed in a freezer when she lost consciousness, which led to her death. The post further alleges that the boys took the girl’s body out of the freezer every day, raped it for eight days, and then repacked it in the freezer. Through this article, let’s fact-check the claim made in the post.
Claim: Photo showing the dead body of a girl named Kajal, who was raped and killed by her Muslim lover, and her body was packed in a freezer.
Fact: There are no reports of any such incident occurring in Assam recently or in the past, as claimed in the viral post. The photo shared in the viral post has been on the internet since at least 2010. In 2022, when this photo was circulated with the same claim, the Assam Police issued a clarification on X (formerly Twitter) stating that the photo is from a Portuguese website and is unrelated to Assam or India. They also warned that strict action would be taken against those who share such false posts. Hence, the claim made in the post is FALSE.
This photo has been shared on social media with the same claim since 2022. Factly previously debunked it, along with a set of other photos, and fact-checked when it went viral with the same claim in Telugu on social media in 2022 (here).
To verify the viral claim and gather information about the photo, we conducted a Google reverse image search. This search led us to several reports featuring the viral photo, along with a set of other photos. According to a report published on the website ‘Documenting Reality’ in 2010, a 45-year-old man from Osasco, in the Greater São Paulo area of Brazil, was arrested in connection with the murder of his wife. After killing her, he hid her body in the freezer. The report also claimed that he acted in self-defence because his wife had threatened to poison him. However, the report neither provided the names of the victim or the accused nor did it mention the date of the incident. Another Portuguese website published a similar report, stating that it is from Osasco, in the Greater São Paulo area of Brazil, and featured the viral photo. Additional reports featuring the viral photo can be seen here and here.
When this photo with the same claim went viral in 2022, the Assam Police issued a clarification on their official X (formerly Twitter) account on 08 December 2022. They clarified in their tweet that the photo, originally published by a Portuguese blog in 2010, is now being shared on social media with false claims. The Assam Police also provided a link to the Portuguese blog that featured the viral photo. In their tweet, they warned that strict action would be taken against those who share such false posts. News agencies also reported on this viral post and the clarification issued by the Assam Police in 2022 (here).
We then conducted a relevant keyword search to determine if any similar incidents had occurred in Assam recently or in the past. There are no reports of such an incident in Assam as claimed. Although we could not pinpoint the exact origin of the incident related to the viral photo, we found that the images have been circulating on the internet since at least 2010 and are not connected to any events in India.
To sum up, an old and unrelated photo is being shared with a false communal narrative, falsely linking it to Assam.
