Video of a mob attacking a woman in West Bengal is being shared with a false communal angle

The video shows a mob attack on a Muslim woman named Meherabanu Bibi in front of Central Modern School in Barasat, West Bengal and the Police clarified that the incident has no communal angle.

A disturbing video of a woman being brutally attacked by a mob in the presence of police is going viral on social media with a communal claim that it shows a Hindu woman being assaulted by Muslims. In the footage, a woman is seen being violently attacked with sticks and hands by a crowd in front of the police. The woman leans against the police jeep. The front windows of the jeep were shattered during the attack. The caption states, “Why law agencies are unable to protect Hindus in India?? It is not Manipur it is West Bengal and Mamata's Please see how a Hindu Girl was brutally assaulted by Muslims - the so-called preachers of peace”

Let’s check the truth

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Fact Check-

We started the investigation by observing the video closely and we found that the police jeep had Barasat Police written on it.

A search using this clue yielded various news reports on the incident. Since June 2024, the same has been reported in Bengali mainstream media. According to reports, the footage shows an old incident where an innocent woman was brutally beaten up by a mob over rumours of child abduction in the area. The news did not mention that the incident had communal dimensions.

https://youtu.be/wpxVsW1XCl4

Moving forward, we found the clarification of Barasat District Police regarding the viral video on their official Twitter handle on 22 July 2024 stating that the video is old and that the incident happened due to rumours within the Barasat police station limits. The post states: “An old video of a lady being beaten up by a mob is being circulated on social media. This incident, a result of rumour-mongering, occurred a month ago in the Barasat PS area, in which three specific cases were lodged and 14 persons were arrested.”

Twitter link

For more clarification we contacted Barasat police and Barasat sub-divisional police officer Vidyagar Ajinkya Anant IPS confirmed that the claim was false. The incident has no communal dimensions. This is a Muslim woman who was attacked by local residents because of rumours that she was a local child abductor. she also clarified that the incident has no communal dimensions.

“On 19.06.24, two incidents of mob lynching occurred under Barasat PS owing to the rumour of child lifting and trafficking for organ trading. One at Mollapara, Aswinipally, Ward 23 wherein one male person was suspected to be a child lifter by public and was attacked by a mob at about 10.30am. Police immediately reached the spot and rescued the person and sent him to hospital. Upon inquiry it was found that he's an ordinary person running his routine errands. In a short while after, another incident took place in front of Central Modern School, Ward 29, Barasat wherein the crowd of parents who had come to pick their children after school suspected a lady and a man as child lifters and began to beat them. The above video pertains to the woman being beaten by them while police team was trying to reduce her. Meherabanu Bibi alias Nehera Banu was the victim of assault. Nehra Banu, 35, is the wife of Khokon Biswas from Prabhakar Khandi under Amdanga Police Station. 10 people have been arrested so far in the incident. In both cases, the victims have registered 5 other cases at Barasat Police Station”.

Based on a few Facebook posts about child abduction incidents in Barasam, the police came to know that innocent people were suspected. Barasat police voluntarily filed cases in these incidents.

Taking account of these evidences, we can understand that a video of a mob attacking a woman in West Bengal is being shared with a false communal angle.

Conclusion-

Fact Crescendo found that the claim made along the video to be False. The video shows a mob attack on a Muslim woman named Meherabanu Bibi in front of Central Modern School in Barasat, West Bengal and the Police clarified that the incident has no communal angle.