A graphic image of a man from Meerut, who was injured after a woman attacked him while he attempted to rape her, is circulating on social media with communal captions misidentifying him as a Muslim named Mohammad Israr.
BOOM found the claim to be false. We reached out to Daurala police, Meerut, who confirmed that the accused belongs to the Hindu community and his name is Mohit Saini. A woman bit Saini's lower lip when he tried to forcefully kiss her.
The image, where a man can be seen with an injured lower lip, is being peddled with a Hindi caption that translates to, "*Meerut Breaking..........* A lesson to the predator for attempting to rape. The woman bit the lip of the accused. The woman was forcibly kissed. The woman was cutting grass in the field when attacked. Police arrested the accused. The name of the accused is Mohammad Israr."
(Original Text in Hindi: *मेरठ ब्रेकिंग..........* रेप अटेम्प्ट करने पर दरिंदे को सबक महिला ने आरोपी का होठ काट लिया महिला को दबोचकर किस किया था खेत में घास काट रही महिला पर अटैक पुलिस ने आरोपी को किया गिरफ्तार आरोपी का नाम मोहम्मद इसरार है)
Click here, here and here to view the post.
The photo is also circulating on Twitter claiming the person to be a Muslim.
Fact Check
BOOM ran a reverse image search on the picture and found several news articles reporting about the incident.
An Amar Ujala report published on February 5, 2023, states that a woman bit off a youth's lips when he tried to molest her at Ajhota village in Meerut under Daurala police station area. The report mentioned the accused name as Mohit Saini, a resident of Lavad. Saini has since been arrested by the police.
We also found reports from TV9 Bharatvarsh and Dainik Bhaskar covering the incident.
The report by Dainik Bhaskar states that a woman pierced the lip of a man with her teeth when he tried to rape her. The police reached the spot and arrested the accused man. In the article, the accused man has been identified as Mohit Saini, a resident of Lavad village.
BOOM reached out to Meerut's Daraula police station to know more details relating to the incident.
An inspector confirmed to BOOM that the name of the accused is Mohit Saini and he belongs to the Hindu community. The inspector also mentioned that the rumour which claims the person is from the Muslim community is fake. The incident took place on February 4 when the accused tried to rape the woman and she bit off his lip. A case has been registered under relevant sections including 323, 504, 506 regarding the matter.
