A post going viral on social media (here, here, and here) claims to show the dead body of a woman named Neelam, who was allegedly packed into a suitcase and thrown into a canal by a Muslim man named Abid in Rajasthan. It is further claimed that the man had been married to her for five months. Let’s verify the claim made in the post through this article.
Claim: A Muslim man named Abid packed his Hindu wife, Neelam, into a suitcase and disposed of her in a canal in Rajasthan.
Fact: The incident took place in Punjab, not Rajasthan. According to reports, the victim, Nisha Soni, who was undergoing air hostess training in Chandigarh, went missing on 20 January 2025 after which her sister filed a police complaint. Her boyfriend allegedly took Nisha to a bridge on the Bhakra Canal and pushed her into the water. Her body was recovered on 22 January 2025 near Passiana Bridge, Patiala. The Ropar police arrested the accused on 23 January 2025, and he was remanded for five days. The FIR confirms that the accused is one Yuvraj Singh. Additionally, the Singh Bhagwantpura police station confirmed that the accused is from the Sikh community and denied any communal angle to the case. Hence, the claim made in the post is Misleading.
A Google Lens search of the viral post led us to several news reports (here, here, and here) (archived here, here, and here) featuring the same image from the post. According to these reports, Nisha Soni, a young woman from Joginder Nagar, Mandi, Himachal Pradesh, undergoing air hostess training in Chandigarh, was allegedly killed by her boyfriend, Yuvraj Singh, a police officer reportedly posted in the Counter Intelligence (CI) Wing of Punjab Police, though this claim is yet to be verified. Her body was disposed of in the Bhakra Canal in Patiala. The Ropar police arrested the accused on 23 January 2025, and he was presented in a Mohali court, which sent him to five days remand.
We also found a report (archived) on the News18 Punjab YouTube channel on 23 January 2025 featuring an interview with DSP Rajpal Singh Gill. He stated that Nisha Soni went missing on 20 January 2025, after which her sister made a complaint with the Police. The sister claimed Nisha had gone to meet Yuvraj Singh, but her phone was off when she tried to reach her. The DSP added that the sister mentioned Yuvraj had been threatening Nisha that he would make her videos viral. On 20 January 2025, Yuvraj allegedly took Nisha to a bridge on the Bhakra Canal and pushed her into the water. Her body was recovered on 22 January near Passiana Bridge, and a murder case has been registered, and investigation is underway.
We also accessed the FIR copy of the case, which identified the accused as Yuvraj Singh, son of Karnail Singh.
We contacted the officials of the Singh Bhagwantpura police station, who refused to reveal the victim’s identity due to the ongoing investigation. However, they confirmed that the accused is from the Sikh community and stated that there is no communal angle to the case.
To sum up, the murder incident of a young woman in Punjab is shared as that of Rajasthan with a false communal narrative.
