The Woman in This Photo is a Victim of Hate Crime, Not the Alleged Love Jihad - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
June 2, 2023
A photo collage depicting a woman before and after an acid attack is being shared online, suggesting that she is a victim of alleged Love Jihad. Let’s verify the claim made in the post.
Claim: Photos depicting the transformation of a woman before and after an acid attack, linked to alleged Love Jihad
Fact: The woman in the photograph is Resham Khan. She and her cousin, both Muslims, were attacked by a person named John Tomlin in June 2017 in East London. The assailant surrendered and was charged with 16 years of imprisonment. The victims had no previous engagement with the attacker, and the police treated it as a hate crime. Hence, the claim made in the post is FALSE.
A reverse image search of the viral images led us to a news report by The Independent, which featured the same set of images in their article. The report confirms that the woman in the viral photographs is Resham Khan. In June 2017, on her 21st birthday in Beckton, east London, she, and her cousin Jameel Mukhtar were viciously attacked with acid by John Tomlin.
According to news reports by BBC (here & here) and The Guardian (here & here), the assailant surrendered to the London police in July 2017 and subsequently received a 16-year prison sentence for committing this heinous crime. The victims, who were Muslim, had no prior knowledge of the attacker, and the police treated it as a hate crime against them. It was revealed in court that the attacker has a history of emotional instability, a personality disorder, and numerous previous convictions, including violent offences, robbery, burglaries, and theft.
The victims have been in the process of recovery, and Resham Khan has been garnering attention across various platforms for her courageous comeback after the attack.
To sum it up, an incident of a hate crime in London, targeting two Muslim cousins, is being falsely associated with the alleged love jihad.