A video of a woman being chased by a group of people and the police down a street is being widely shared across social media platforms, with the claim that a Hindu woman was brutally attacked by Muslims in West Bengal (here, here, & here). In the video, we see a young woman being attacked by the mob in front of a police vehicle, whose windshield is broken during the attack. Through this article, let’s fact-check the claim made in the post.
Claim: Video showing an attack on a Hindu woman by Muslims in West Bengal.
Fact: According to reports and the police, the woman victim in this incident is Muslim, and there is no communal angle to the incident. The video shows a mob attack on a woman in front of Central Modern School, Barasat, West Bengal, which took place on 19 June 2024. According to the FIR filed in this case, a woman named Meherabanu Bibi, along with a man named Khalid, was attacked by a group of people over unfounded child kidnapping rumors at that time. Hence the claim made in the post is FALSE.
Upon carefully observing the viral video, we noticed that “Barasat Police” is written on the police vehicle. Barasat is a district in West Bengal, making it clear that the video is from West Bengal. Using this as a clue, we conducted a relevant keyword search that led us to several news reports from Bengali mainstream media published in June 2024 (here, and here). According to these reports, the video shows a mob attacking the woman over unfounded child kidnapping rumours at that time. Additional news reports can be seen here & here.
A news report video published by “Kolkata TV” also featured Barasat Superintendent of Police, Pratiksha Jharkhariya. In the video, she briefed about two incidents of mob lynching that took place in the Barasat area. SP Jharkhariya said, “On 19 June 2024, two incidents of mob attacks occurred under the Barasat police station due to rumours of child abduction and organ trafficking that spread on social media. The first incident happened around 10:30 am in Mollapara, Aswinipally. Another incident happened in front of Central Modern School, Barasat, where parents who had come to pick up their children after school suspected a woman and a man of being child kidnappers and began to beat them“.
Using this as a clue, we then visited the official website of the Barasat district police and accessed the FIR filed for this incident. According to the FIR, the victims in this incident are Meherabanu Bibi and Khalid. The FIR also mentioned the names of 10 individuals who were arrested in connection with the case.
On 22 July 2024, the Barasat District Police issued a clarification regarding the viral video on their official X (Twitter) handle stating that the video is old and that the incident happened due to rumours within the Barasat police station limits. The post reads: “An old video of a lady being beaten up by a mob is being circulated on social media. This incident, a result of rumour-mongering, occurred a month ago in the Barasat PS area, in which three specific cases were lodged and 14 persons were arrested.”
Talking to BOOM, Barasat Superintendent of Police, Pratiksha Jharkhariya, said that a Muslim woman named Meherabanu Bibi was attacked by locals on 19 June 2024 due to unfounded child kidnapping rumours in the area. She also clarified that there is no communal angle to the incident. From all this information, it is evident that the victim in this incident is a Muslim, and there is no communal angle involved.
To sum up, a video of a mob attacking a woman in West Bengal is being shared with a false communal narrative.
