Old Image, Communal Narrative Goes Viral In Mumbai Model’s Murder Case

A gruesome image of a body stuffed in a suitcase is being wrongly shared with a communal angle as that of model Mansi Dixit who was murdered recently in Mumbai.

However, BOOM’s fact check revealed that the image is not connected to Dixit’s case, but a murder that happened in August 2017 in Navi Mumbai.

The image of the model and the incorrect image is being shared along with the text, “20 year old model Mansi Dixit murdered by Muzzamal Sayyed & Body stuffed in a suitcase. Zero statements by intolerance brigade, zero coverage by national media, zero outrage from B’wood, zero placards on display. Some people still think that the religion of the victim & accused don’t matter. Is this what you call “secularism”?!”

Several Facebook pages including We Support Arnab Goswami, Say “No” To Sold Media and  I Support Arnab Goswami have shared the post. Altogether, the posts have received more than 5000 shares.

A Reverse Google image search traced the picture to a report of Dainik Bhaskar in August 2017. The body was that of Mariam Sheikh, a 20 year old beauty parlour employee in Vashi. Her body and severed head were dumped in a suitcase and found in the bushes.

Dixit’s body was found in similar manner in a suitcase in Mumbai. She was murdered on October 15, 2018 allegedly by Muzammil Syed, a 19-year old student whom she had gone to meet on the day of the incident. Though the motive of the murder is not clear, the police suspects that the murder happened after an argument between them. As per the police, a head injury and strangulation are said to have caused the death. The body was dumped in the mangroves near Inorbit Mall, Malad. The police was alerted by the cab driver who dropped Syed at the spot.

Another post which is doing rounds is that of a man holding a placard alleging sexual assault. It weaves in a #MeToo narrative along with the communal angle. It says that Dixit never got to say her #MeToo story and that when the victim is a Hindu and the criminal a non-Hindu, the incident gets no attention.

However, police has ruled out sexual assault, reported Hindustan Times. BOOM spoke to Sangramsingh Nishandar, Deputy Commissioner of Police, zone XI of Mumbai, who confirmed the same.

Additional reporting by Nivedita NiranjanKumar