A video from West Bengal's Barasat district showing a woman being attacked by a mob is viral on social media with a false communal claim that it shows a Hindu woman being brutally assaulted by Muslims.
Another clip of the same incident is being circulated with another false claim that in a complete breakdown of law and order locals began assaulting police officers when they came to arrest a woman.
BOOM found both the claims to be false. We spoke to Barasat Superintendent of Police, Pratiksha Jharkhariya, who confirmed that the videos show an old incident where an innocent woman was beaten by a crowd due to unfounded child kidnapping rumours in the area; Jharkhariya further added that there is no communal angle to the incident.
In both the videos, a woman is seen being chased by a group of people and the police down a street. Later, the woman is attacked by the mob in front of a police van, which also has its windshield broken during the assault.
Trigger Warning: The videos contain disturbing visuals. Viewer discretion is advised.
The video is circulating with the caption, "It is not Manipur it is West Bengal and Mamata's Please see how a Hindu Girl was brutally assaulted by Muslims."
Click here to view one such post and here for an archive.
BOOM also received the same video on its WhatsApp tipline number (+917700906588) with a request to verify the video.
Different visuals from the same incident are viral with a caption in Hindi.
Click here to view one such post and here for an archive.
Fact Check
BOOM first observed that the police van in both the viral videos has 'Barasat Police' written on it. Using this as a clue, we searched for news reports about the attack and found several video reports from Bengali mainstream outlets from June 2024, stating that the mob attacked the woman over unfounded child kidnapping rumours at that time.
Below is a report from Kolkata TV dated June 19, 2024, which includes visuals of the incident.
BOOM previously reported on the child abduction rumour that sparked several mob attacks on innocent individuals across various parts of West Bengal. The report can be read here.
We then reached out to Barasat Superintendent of Police, Pratiksha Jharkhariya, who confirmed that both claims are false. Jharkhariya told BOOM that the victim is a Muslim woman who was attacked by locals due to unfounded child kidnapping rumours in the area. She also clarified that there is no communal angle to the incident.
Jharkhariya said, "On June 19, two incidents of mob attacks occurred under the Barasat police station due to rumours of child abduction and organ trafficking. The first incident happened around 10:30 am in Mollapara, Aswinipally, Ward 23, where a man running his routine errands was attacked by a mob on suspicion of being a child kidnapper. Shortly after, another incident happened in front of Central Modern School, Ward 29, Barasat. Parents who had come to pick up their children after school, suspected a woman and a man of being child kidnappers and began to beat them. The viral video is from this second incident."
The Barasat SP further added, "The video shows Meherabanu Bibi, alias Nehera Banu, an innocent woman, being attacked by a mob while the police team tried to rescue her."
When asked about a communal angle to the incident, Jharkhariya denied the claim, stating that the attack was sparked by child kidnapping rumours.
The SP also mentioned that the police have already arrested 10 suspects based on a Suo Moto case and the victim's complaint.
The Barasat SP told BOOM, "There is no communal angle to the incident. We are aware of the propaganda being circulated online. The individuals arrested in connection with the case are Surajit Dey, Bablu Das, Amrit Mondal, Dolon Das, Ayan Saha, Sambhu Banik, Ranjit Podder, Pradip Podder, Tapas Malakar, and Sumit Sarkar."
