A CCTV footage showing a woman defacing a large poster of Hindu god Ram in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar (earlier known as Aurangabad), Maharashtra, is viral with false claims misidentifying her as a Muslim.
BOOM found that the communal claim being made with the viral video is false; the woman in the viral video was identified as a Hindu by Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar Police.
The video was also tweeted by pro-Hindutva website Sudarshan news further amplifying the claim. Sudarshan News tweeted a part of the CCTV footage with a caption in Hindi: "Where is so much poison being filled from? Why does the burqa clad woman hate Lord Shri Ram so much? Parked the scooty on the road and then threw eggs on the Lord Shri Ram picture, the incident is from Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar in Maharashtra." (Original text in Hindi: 'कहां से भरा जा रहा है इतना जहर? बुर्काधारी महिला को प्रभु श्रीराम से इतनी नफरत क्यों? सड़क पर स्कूटी खड़ी की और फिर प्रभु श्रीराम की तस्वीर पर अंडे फेंके, महाराष्ट्र के छत्रपति संभाजीनगर की है घटना'.)
An overlaid text seen on the video uses a derogatory term to address Muslim women.
Several other users also tweeted the video with the same claim. Click here, here and here to view.
The same video also went viral on Facebook with the similar communal claim. Click here, here and here to view the posts.
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Fact Check
BOOM first searched Google Maps to verify the location mentioned in the viral video and found the incident happened in Shri Ram Chowk on Darg Road in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar (Aurangabad). Similarities can be seen below.
Further when we searched the internet about the incident, we found a press release tweeted by Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar Police Commissioner on May 20, 2023. According to the press release, a woman came on a two-wheeler in the Satara area of Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar and tried to vandalize the religious poster in the morning of May 20.
Upon investigation, police identified the woman as 38-year-old Shilpa Ramrao Garud alias Shailaja Vishal Udavet. Garud is a clerk in Kranti Chowk Post Office, Jawaharnagar and lives in Alok Nagar, Satara. Police further said that Garud was depressed due to family reasons and hence took such a step. She did not intend to create any disharmony among communities. According to the press release, police have registered a case against the woman under Sections 295 and 427.
We also found a video of Chhatrapati Sambhaji Nagar Police Commissioner Manoj Lohia where he confirmed that the accused woman was a Hindu. He cited her depression as the reason behind the woman's act and appealed to people to avoid circulating misleading videos on social media.
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