Old Communal Claim Of Muslim Man Killing Hindu Girl Revived on Social Media

Local police authorities dismissed the communal angle and said that both parties belonged to the same religion.

A video of a man caught with a suitcase containing a woman's corpse is being shared on social media.

The claim: Users have posted the video labelling it as 'Love Jihad,' a term promoted by the right-wing, which typically describes a situation where Muslims allegedly convert Hindu women to Islam without their consent through love and marriage.

For context: These claims come at a time when the Uttar Pradesh assembly approved the UP Anti-Conversion of Religion (Amendment) Bill, 2024, commonly referred to as the 'love jihad' law, with strict rules on deceptive or coerced conversions.

• The revised legislation allows for a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison or life imprisonment in cases where conversion occurred under coercion, enticement of marriage, or collusion.

(Note: We have refrained from adding links to the video due to its disturbing nature.)

Is this true?: No, the claim is false.

• The case happened in Kaliyar Sharif, Uttarakhand in 2022. The local police informed The Quint that Ramsa and Gulzeb, who were the deceased and the accused, belonged to the same community.

• He also mentioned that the incident had no communal angle and they were distant family members.

• The Quint had previously fact-checked this video in 2022 and it has been revived again.

What we found: We used keywords to search for news articles regarding the incident in Kaliyar Sharif. The findings directed us to a News18 Hindi article that included a photograph of the perpetrator.

• The incident took place at a guest house in Piran Kaliyar, Uttarakhand, where the couple was staying, as stated in the report. The accused was identified as Gulbez and the hotel staff became suspicious when he struggled to carry the suitcase while leaving the hotel.

• The report said that the hotel staff prevented Gulbez from leaving and asked him to unlock the suitcase, in which they found the dead woman and alerted the authorities.

ETV Bharat's coverage of the incident revealed the victim as Ramsa and included a video of police presence at the scene. It was mentioned that Gulbez had confessed to murdering the girl because she had declined his proposal to marry her, even after he repeatedly asked her to.

• The report contained the statement of the Haridwar (Rural) SP Pramendra Dobhal who told the press that Gulzeb had been apprehended under the Indian Penal Code (IPC) Section 302 for murder, and the suitcase containing the body, garments, and a knife had been confiscated with the case.

Police's comments: Ealier, The Quint spoke to Station Officer (SO) Dharmendra Rathi from Kaliyar Sharif Police Station in Uttarakhand, who dismissed the communal claim.

He said, "The person we arrested is Gulzeb, son of Sanawwar and the deceased was identified at Ramsa, daughter of Rashid. They were both from the same community and were distant relatives."

• Team WebQoof also accessed the press note issued after the case's investigation, which corroborated all other details.

• The note added that Gulzeb had committed the crime after Ramsa's family had objected to the idea of the two getting married.

Conclusion: The video is being shared with a false communal angle.

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