Twitter Posts Falsely Claim Accused Kin In Rape Of Minor In Pune Are Muslims

A set of four Muslim names are being shared on Twitter falsely identifying them as the accused in a recent case in Pune where four members of a family have been booked after a 11-year-old girl alleged that she had been repeatedly raped by her kin, including her father and brother, since 2017.

The four Muslim names being falsely attributed to the case are - Abdul, Javed, Farhan, Nizam, giving it a communal spin.

BOOM contacted Pune Police who denied the claim that the accused in the case are Muslims. Police Inspector (crime) Ashwini Satpute of Bund Garden police station stated to BOOM that none of the accused in the case are Muslims.

"The names being circulated are completely false. All the accused are family members of the minor girl and none of the accused in this case is a Muslim," PI Satpute told BOOM.

An ANI tweet reporting on the incident was quoted tweeted by several right-wing Twitter users falsely claiming that the four are Abdul, Javed, Farhan and Nizam, These users also tried giving the case a false communal spin.

Some Twitter users also falsely claimed that the reason for not revealing the names of the accused is because they are Muslims. However, this is not true as according to the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and journalistic guidelines for reporting on rape state that revealing the identity of the rape victim or family members leading to the identity of the victim is prohibited and a punishable offense with up to 2 years imprisonment, with or without a fine.

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FACT-CHECK

BOOM found that the four Muslim names being circulated are not the accused in the case reported in Pune where four members of a family have been booked after an 11-year-old girl alleged that she had been repeatedly raped by her kin.

We were also able to confirm that none of the accused in the case are Muslims.

Four members of a family have been booked after an 11-year-old girl alleged that she had been repeatedly raped by her kin, including her father and brother, since 2017, the Pune Police had said reported The Indian Express on March 20, 2022.

According to the FIR reported by The Indian Express, the girl's father sexually abused her when they lived in Bihar in 2017, and the girl later moved to Pune where her brother allegedly raped her on several occasions and her grandfather and uncle, too, had allegedly abused her between January and May 2021 according to the complaint.

"The incident came to light when the girl opened up during a 'good touch and bad touch' session in her school. Her ordeal has been going on for the last five years," Police Inspector (crime) Ashwini Satpute of Bund Garden police station had told The Hindustan Times on March 20, 2022.

Deputy commissioner of Police (Zone II) Sagar Patil had also stated on the case to Hindustan Times saying, "The girl comes from an impoverished background, a (daily wage) labourer's family. The case is under investigation and no arrest has been made till now."

BOOM reached out to Police Inspector (crime) Ashwini Satpute of Bund Garden police station, who denied that the four accused are Muslims. "The names being circulated are completely false. All the accused are family members of the minor girl and none of the accused in this case is a Muslim," PI Satpute told BOOM.

We also reached out to a journalist who reported on the case. The journalist confirmed that the accused are not Muslims.