Video of a Man Threatening Two Girls With Knife Viral With Communal Claim

The man was identified as Piyush Rawat and was booked under the Arms Act.

A video showing a man threatening two girls with a knife outside a cafe is going viral on social media with a claim about 'love jihad'.

'Love Jihad' is a word popularised by the Hindu right-wing, which refers to the alleged campaign of Muslims forcefully converting Hindu girls in the guise of love.

The claim also states that this incident of a Muslim guy tried to attack a Hindu girl happened in Madhya Pradesh's Indore.

However, the claim is false as everyone seen in the video belonged to the Hindu community.

CLAIM

The claim along with the video suggest that a Muslim guy was threatening a Hindu girl.

Similar claims can be seen here and here.

WHAT WE FOUND OUT 

We conducted a keyword search on Google using 'Indore man attacking girl' in Hindi and found a report by Hindi newspaper, Dainik Bhaskar, from 25 July 2022.

The article carried the viral video and also mentioned the location of the incident as VM 02 cafe, MIG area in Indore.

The name of the cafe can be seen in the visuals too.

The report also mentioned that the man was pressurising one of the woman seen in the video to marry him.

Next, we contacted police inspector, Ajay Verma from MIG Police Station, Indore, who confirmed to us that this incident happened in front of VM 02 cafe at MIG main road on 25 July 2022.

"The case involved a 27-year-old man named Piyush Bharat Singh Rawat. He knew the girl personally and was trying to scare her with a knife, although he did not attack her. Now he is arrested under the Arms Act. The girl has not filed any complaint against him. There is no communal angle to the incident."

Ajay Verma, PI MIG

The Quint found the FIR registered in connection to the case, which also mentioned the man's name as Piyush Rawat, son of Bhagat Singh Rawat.

It added that as the man failed to show a license for the 13-inch blade that he was carrying, he had been booked under section 25 of the Arms Act, which attracts a fine and imprisonment of upto seven years.

Clearly, a false communal spin was given to the incident of a man threatening a girl with a knife in Indore.

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