A disturbing video from Maharashtra of an 18-year-old youth threatening a minor girl is viral with a false communal claim that the accused is a Muslim.
BOOM spoke to Satara police, who identified the accused as Aryan Chandrakant Waghmale, denying a communal angle to the crime.
The Claim
The video of locals saving a minor girl from a young man holding a knife to her throat is viral with a caption in Hindi, that translates to, "Maharashtra Incident Look at the audacity of these jihadists, they don’t even spare minor girls. A jihadi was killed while attempting to slit the throat of a schoolgirl after failing to trap her in love jihad. Keep an eye on these jihadist mullahs and warn your sisters and daughters!!!"
(Original Text in Hindi: महाराष्ट्र की घटना इन जेहादियों की हिम्मत तो देखो नाबालिग लड़कियों को भी नहीं छोड़ रहे। स्कूल की लड़की को लव जिहाद में फंसाने की कोशिश में नाकाम होने पर चाकू से गला काटने की कोशिश में मारा गया जिहादी। जेहादियों मुल्लों पर नजर रखिये अपनी बहन बेटियों को सावधान करिए!!
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What We Found
Incident from Satara, Maharashtra
We found multiple news reports, including by the Times of India, confirming the viral video was an incident in Karanje, Satara. The news reports detailed that the accused is Aryan Waghmale(18), a neighbour of the minor victim.
The TOI report quoted Satara police as saying that the accused Waghmale was forcing the minor to be in a relationship. The report further added that the police issued a warning to Waghmale, when the minor's parents had previously approached them to complain about his behaviour.
Satara Police has since the incident in the viral video charged Waghmale under relevant sections of the Prevention of Children from Sexual Offences Act.
Satara Police Confirms Accused Is Hindu
We reached out to Satara police who rubbished the communal claim, adding that the accused and the victim were Hindus.