Satara Knife Attack Falsely Given Communal Spin; Accused Is Not Muslim

A disturbing video showing a knife attack on a schoolgirl is going viral on social media. In the video, a teenage boy can be seen holding a knife to the girl’s throat in broad daylight while passersby try to stop him.

Several posts are sharing this video with the communal claim that the accused is a Muslim who attacked the girl after she rejected his attempt at ‘love jihad’.

Fact Crescendo received several requests to verify this claim via our WhatsApp Tipline (9049053770). 

We found it to be false. The accused is not a Muslim. The video is being shared with a false communal narrative.

WHAT’S THE CLAIM?

The video shows a young boy holding a schoolgirl by the neck and threatening her with a knife in the middle of a public street. The girl can be seen pleading with him, while her mother and bystanders urge him to put the knife away. Eventually, someone from the crowd grabs the boy from behind and rescues the girl. The angry crowd then beats up the accused.

The video is being circulated with the caption: “महाराष्ट्र की घटना: स्कूल की लड़की को लव जिहाद में फंसाने की कोशिश में नाकाम होने पर चाकू से गला काटने की कोशिश में मारा गया जिहादी.” (A Muslim boy killed after failing to trap a schoolgirl in love jihad and attempting to slit her throat with a knife in Maharashtra.) (Archive Link)

Original Post – Facebook | Archive

FACT-CHECK

With keyword search, we found several media reports about this incident. 

According to the Times of India, the incident happened in Satara’s Basappa Peth–Karanje area on 22 July. 

The accused is an 18-year-old youth identified as Aryan Waghmale. The vicitim is 16 yearl old class 10 student. 

According to a police official quoted in various news reports, the motive appears to be personal. The boy was reportedly in one-sided love with the girl and angry that she was not responding to him. This led him to follow and threaten her.

The accused had earlier studied in the same school as the victim. He stopped the girl on the road, threatened her with a knife, and held her by the throat. The boy is eventually caught and handed over to the police.

Satara Superintendent of Police Tushar Doshi told the media that the accused had a one-sided liking for the girl. Earlier, the girl and her parents had approached the police to file a complaint, and the boy had been warned. Despite this, he continued to harass her. During the incident, two locals were injured while trying to stop him, but the girl was rescued safely. He has been booked under the POCSO Act and other relevant sections and is currently in police custody.

Fact Crescendo contacted Police Inspector S.G. Mhetre of Shahupuri Police Station. He confirmed, “The claim made with the viral video is false. The name of the accused is Aryan Waghmale, and he is not a Muslim. He did this out of one-sided love. The viral claim about his religion is baseless.”

CONCLUSION

The viral claim that a Muslim youth attacked a Hindu girl due to ‘love-jihad’ is completely false. The accused, Aryan Waghmale, is not Muslim, and he attacked the girl over stalking and one-sided love. There is no communal or religious angle to the incident. Also, the accused is not killed. He is in police custody.