Visuals of school girls attacking a molester are being shared with a false communal claim - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
June 26, 2023
A video of young school-going girls thrashing a person in public is going viral on social media platforms. The video is being shared with a claim attributing communal angle to the incident, saying “Ahmedabad ki Sherni this is called strength of Hindu daughter of Maa Bharti, Jehadi Abdul molested Hindu lioness girl going to school in public, all Maa Durga Avatari daughters gathered and reminded Jehadi Abdul of his forefathers”. Through this article, let’s fact-check the claim made in the post.
Claim: Visuals showing Hindu girls teaching a lesson to a Muslim molester.
Fact: These visuals indeed show young school going girls thrashing a molester. However, there is no communal aspect to the incident, as both the victim and the accused are from the same community. FIR has been registered at the Kagadapith police station and the accused is identified as Vijay Natwarbhai, a Hindu. The police have also confirmed that the accused is not a Muslim. Hence, the claim made in the post is FALSE.
Although the viral visuals clearly depict a group of schoolgirls confronting a boy who was harassing them, it is important to note that there is no religious or communal angle to the incident, as both the victim and the accused are from the same community.
A keyword search yielded multiple news articles which reported the same visuals (here, here, here & here). As per these articles, on the morning of 22 June 2023, at Bhulabhai Park Bus Stand, a 17-year-old girl was cycling to school when she was approached by Vijay Sarkate, a stalker. He forcefully grabbed her hand, tried to give her a gift, and proceeded to forcefully kiss her.
To teach the stalker a lesson, the girl shared the distressing experience with her mother. As anticipated, the stalker reappeared the next day and confronted the girl. Fortunately, her older sister, who was nearby, intervened and confronted the stalker, Vijay Sarkate. Both the sisters along with other students attacked the stalker. In the meantime, the girls’ parents who came there called the police control room and filed a complaint against Sarkate.
An FIR has been filed at the Kagadapith police station and according to the inspector of Kagadapith G J Ravat, the accused Sarkate is booked for molestation and stalking under the Indian Penal Code along with charges under the Protection of Children against Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.
While a few articles wrongly reported the name of the accused as ‘Vijay Sarkate’, few news outlets and the FIR identified the accused as ‘Vijay Natwarbhai’.  Kagadapith police station SHO GJ Rawat told Aaj Tak that the man arrested for molesting a minor is not a Muslim. Thus, these details indicate that contrary to the viral claim there is no communal touch to the incident.
To sum it up, visuals of school-going girls attacking a molester are being shared with a false communal spin.