Photo of UP Man Accused of Attempt to Rape Shared With False Communal Spin

The FIR registered in connection with the case mentions the accused's name as Mohit Saini.

A photo of a man with a severely injured lip is being shared with a claim that a woman bit off his lip when he forcibly kissed her, in an attempt to rape her. The man is being identified as one Mohammed Israr, giving the incident a communal angle.

(Warning: The photo in the links below might be distressing. Viewer discretion is advised.)

(Archives of more such claims can be seen here, here, and here.)

But..?: The photo shows one Mohit Saini from Uttar Pradesh's Meerut , who was accused of attempting to rape a woman on 4 February 2023 in Daurala, Uttar Pradesh.

• Saini was arrested and charged under sections 323 (punishment for voluntarily causing hurt), 354(b) (assaulting or using criminal force against a woman) and 506 (criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).

• The First Information Report (FIR) registered in connection to the case confirmed his identity as Mohit Saini, and Daurala Circle Officer (CO) Abhishek Kumar Patel denied any communal angle to the incident while speaking to The Quint.

How did we find out?: We ran a reverse image search on the viral photo.

• This led us to an article published by Hindi news organisation Dainik Bhaskar, which carried the viral photo.

• It mentioned the name of the accused as Mohit Saini and added that he attempted to rape a woman, who bit his lip when he forcibly kissed her.

What does the FIR say?: The Quint accessed a copy of the First Information Report (FIR) registered in connection to this case.

• The FIR was registered on 4 February 2023, at Daurala police station in Uttar Pradesh's Meerut. It too, mentioned the accused's name as one Mohit Saini.

• As per the FIR, Saini was charged with sections 323 (punishment for voluntarily causing hurt), 354(b) (assaulting or using criminal force against a woman) and 506 (criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code.

Police deny communal angle: The Quint reached out to Circle Officer (CO) Abhishek Kumar Patel, who, too, denied any communal angle to the incident.

• "There is no communal angle to the incident. It happened last Saturday (4 February)," he said, confirming the accused's name.

Conclusion: The photo of the man accused of rape is being shared with a false communal angle.

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