A video of CCTV footage showing a woman throwing slippers at a statue of Shivaji Maharaj in Sasane Nagar, Pune, and being detained by the police is viral on social media, with a false communal claim that she is Muslim.
BOOM found that the woman in the video is Ashwini Dagde, and a police officer at the Kalepadal Police Station denied any communal angle.
The Claim:
The 14-second video is being shared claiming that the woman who is vandalising the statue is Muslim and was subsequently arrested by the police for her actions.
Archive available here.
What We Found:
1) Woman in the video is Ashwini Dagde
A reverse image search led BOOM to reports of the incident, where a woman threw slippers at a statue of Shivaji Maharaj in Sansane Nagar in Pune, and the locals then attacked her and smeared ink on her face. She was then arrested by the Pune Police. A keyword search then led us to video reports that identified the woman as Ashwini Dagde.
2) Senior Inspector at Kalepadal Police Station denies communal angle
BOOM contacted Girisha Nimbalkar, Senior Police Inspector at Kalepadal Police Station, who confirmed that the woman was Ashwini Dagde and denied any communal angle in the case.