Indian social media is abuzz with the posts related to the riots that erupted in Sweden. A hashtag #swedenriots has already garnered more than two hundred thousand tweets.
Many users shared photos and videos of the riots with a claim that the riots were started after a Muslim man raped and tortured two minors and tried to bury them alive.
Fact Crescendo got in touch with Malmö police and they clarified that the viral claim is false. The riot did not start because of the rape of a minor by any Muslim man.
What’s the Claim?
A user shared a screenshot of The Sun news: “Two teen boys ‘tortured, raped and BURIED ALIVE in Swedish graveyard before being rescued ten hours later” and further claimed that it caused some people to burn the Quran. Then Muslims retaliated with violence.
Another user shared a video of people burning tyres and claimed that a Muslim man raped two minors and then buried them alive in Sweden. Enraged by the heinous crime, a person burnt the Holy Quran and, Muslims, in return, set the whole city on fire. (Translation from Hindi)
Another user echoed a similar claim by tweeting: So #Sweden is witnessing worst [Riots] [because] some Muslims raped Children and in protest a man burnt Quran. The Migrant [Muslims] have taken the whole city on ransom and causing worst damages and [Riots]. Europe you are doomed.
FACT-CHECK
Reuters reported that a riot broke out on Friday,28th August in the southern Swedish town of Malmö, where at least 300 people had gathered to protest against anti-Islam activities. Earlier in the day, a copy of the Quran had been burned in Malmö by far right-wing extremists.
Another news website The Local reported that Rasmus Paludan, who leads the far-right Danish anti-immigration party Hard Line, was due to travel to Malmö on Friday where he was supposed to attend a Koran-burning rally. However, the police did not give permission. The violence broke out after he was blocked from entering Sweden.
We did not find any mention of “minor raped by Muslim” in any news regarding the riot in Malmö.
We, then, searched through the Swedish Police website and came across an official statement by Malmö police chief Stefan Sintéus on the violence in his city. It goes like this:
“On Friday evening, unrest broke out in Malmö after a copy of the Quran was burned and an unauthorized demonstration took place on Stortorget, where the Quran was kicked around on the ground.
The unrest degenerated into a violent riot in parts of Malmö with fires, vandalism and, throwing stones at the police and rescue services. About fifteen people have been detained.” (Google Translation)
Read the original statement – Malmö Police | Archive
As you can see, the Malmö police statement also does not mention anything about the “rape of minors by a Muslim man”. It all started with the burning of the Quran and was followed by an unauthorized demonstration where a Quran was kicked around on the ground.
What about the screenshot of The Sun news about boys being tortured?
A simple reading of The Sun news will confirm that this incident did not take place in Malmö. Two teenage boys were allegedly tortured, raped, and buried alive in a town called Solna. Police said that the boys were abducted and taken to a nearby cemetery after declining an offer to buy drugs. Police have arrested two alleged perpetrators in the case. There is no mention of religion in the news.
Read original news – The Sun | Archive
The distance between Solna and Malmö is 615 km.
To strengthen our investigation, Fact Crescendo contacted Malmö police spokesperson Calle Persson via email. He replied denying the claims made in the above tweets.
The riot in Malmö was not started because any Muslim man raped minors. The incident that took place in Solna has no relation to the violence in Malmö, confirmed the spokesperson.
“The Swedish police do not keep record of the religious affiliation of our citizens or suspects,” he wrote back when we asked him about the rioters’ background.
Swedish Journalists from the local media who have covered the riot and the Solna incident told Fact Crescendo that these are two separate events. There is no connection between the incident in Solna and the riots in Malmö.
CONCLUSION
It can be safely concluded that the riots in Malmö, Sweden were not started because some Muslim man raped two minors. The truth is that violence broke out in Malmö after a copy of the Quran was burned and an unauthorized demonstration took place in the city on Friday where the Quran was kicked around on the ground.
Title:No, the Sweden Riot Did Not Start Because Muslim Man Raped Minors
Fact Check By: Mayur DeokarResult: False
