A 42-year-old man in Kerala committed suicide after he was accused of sexual harassment by an influencer Shimjitha Musthafa. This sparked widespread controversy, and Shimjitha was later arrested. Against this backdrop, a video of a woman being arrested went viral on social media claiming to show the arrest of Shimjitha.
Instagram Link | Archived Link.
However, after a thorough research, we came to know that the claim was false. The woman in the viral video is not Shimjitha Musthafa. Here’s the fact check.
Fact Check
We conducted a relevant keyword search and found the original footage showing Shimjitha Musthafa’s arrest. In the video, Shimjitha can be seen wearing a burka. According to reports, police detained Shimjitha Musthafa in Kozhikode.
But the police vehicle in the viral video reads “Anchal PS”.
Taking this clue and conducting a reverse image search of the screenshots from the viral video, we found a longer version of the viral video uploaded on a Facebook page on 24 November 2023.
According to the Malayalam caption, the video shows a woman, Aswathy, who abandoned her child and after that, her husband committed suicide. The translation of the caption read, “She will kill him too. Aswathy, who left her child behind and went with her lover on the day her husband hanged himself, appeared before the Anchal police along with her lawyer. The police prevented her parents from assaulting Aswathy at the police station.”
We found another report on a YouTube channel on 24 November 2023.
Other reports can be seen here and here.
This makes it clear that the video is old and unrelated to Shimjitha Musthafa’s arrest.
Conclusion
From our investigation, we can say that the claim is false. The viral video does not show influencer Shimjitha Musthafa’s arrest. The video is old and the name of the woman seen in the viral video is Aswathy.
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Title:Old Unrelated Video Going Viral As Influencer Shimjitha Musthafa’s Arrest.
Fact Check By: Debanjana baishyaResult: False
