A photo of a woman's body found in a suitcase at Uttan beach, Thane district near Mumbai is being shared with a false claim that she was murdered by a Muslim man.
BOOM spoke to Mira-Bhayandar Police who stated that the victim has been identified as Anjali Mintu Singh (23) who was murdered allegedly by her husband - Mintu Singh (31) as he suspected that she was having an extramarital affair.
Several right-wing Twitter users on Friday shared a disturbing photo partially showing woman's body that was recovered at Uttan beach. The photo showed a trishul tattoo on the woman's forearm.
The viral photo was shared with the hashtag "love jihad" and the caption, "The dead body of a 25-year-old Hindu woman was found in a suitcase on the beach. The girl's head is separated from the torso. Police engaged in investigation #lovejihaad"
Love Jihad is a term used by right-wing handles to describe a supposed conspiracy theory in which Muslim men target non-Muslim women for conversion to Islam by feigning love.
Click here to view, and here for an archive
The same photo was tweeted by the Twitter user Mr Sinha (@MrSinha_) on June 2, 2023, with the caption, "Body of a Hindu girl has been found from the Arabian sea near Mumbai. The worst part about it is her head is missing, must be ch0pped off... I hope it will be investigated properly!! @MumbaiPolice @Dev_Fadnavis".
Sinha's tweet was quote tweeted by several Twitter accounts adding misleading and communal claims to the incident.
Click here to view
The same viral photo is being shared on Facebook with the false claim.
Click here to view, and here for an archive
FACT-CHECK
BOOM found that there is no communal angle to the murder of the woman in the viral photo. The victim was murdered allegedly by her husband as he suspected her of having an affair according to Mira-Bhayandar Police.
Taking a hint from the viral photo of the tattoo on the hand of the woman, we ran a keyword search and found a news report of the incident reported by Mid-Day on June 3, 2023, stating that Mira-Bhayandar Police had identified the victim as Anjali Singh and has also arrested the woman's husband Mittu Singh and husband's brother Chunchun Singh for her murder.
Police arrested the woman's husband and his brother who are both residents of Naigaon, Palghar district the report stated further adding that the police had taken the help of the tattoo artist and traced her with her tattoo of Om and trishul design on her hand. The police further alleged that the duo also threw her body into the sea and the suitcase was found on Friday morning at Uttan Beach in Thane district.
Click here to view
There is no communal angle: Uttan Sagari Police to BOOM
BOOM then reached out to Senior Police Inspector Dadaram Karande, Uttan Sagari police station, who denied any communal angle to the murder. "The victim has been identified as Anjali Mintu Singh (23). She was murdered by her husband, Mintu Singh (31) who is a security guard. He murdered her as he suspected that she was having an affair," Karande said. He added that the accused Mintu Singh was employed as a security guard and the couple stayed Rajavlai in Naigaon area.
"There is no communal angle. We have seen some messages saying that. Strict action will be taken against those spreading false news," Senior PI Karande further added.