Fact Check: Muslim woman’s hijab was removed by Muslims in Muzzaffarnagar, UP

Some social media users are sharing this video with the claim that the mob seen assaulting the young woman is a mob of Hindutva extremists. A user shared the video with the caption, “A mob of Hindutva extremists removes a Muslim woman's hijab. Disrobing a young woman and swarming around her like a pack of hyenas. Disgusting, shameful visuals from Uttar Pradesh’s Muzaffarnagar. #saveindianmuslims”

Some other users shared the same video with the caption “Disrobing a young Muslim woman and swarming around her like a pack of hyenas. Disgusting, shameful visuals from Uttar Pradesh’s Muzaffarnagar.”

Here is the archive link to the claim.

Fact Check:

The claim is Misleading. The people seen in the viral video do not belong to the Hindu community.

When we extracted keyframes from the viral video and searched them using Google reverse image search, we found several reports confirming that the assaulters did not belong to the Hindu community.

A X user shared the video with the caption “Muzaffarnagar — Muslim girl & Hindu boy assaulted by 'Peacefuls'. The girl’s burqa was forcibly REMOVED. The boy works at Utkarsh Bank; the girl’s mother is also employed there. An incident occurred while returning after loan collection. 6 Muslims accused ARRESTED by police.”

According to a report published by Punjab Kesari, this incident took place near Meenakshi Chowk in the district. A young man and a woman who were riding a bike were beaten up. The young girl was the daughter of a collection agent working at a private finance company. Sachin, another resident of village Ismailpur village of Thanabhavan police station in Shamli district, also works in the company. As the collections needed to be made, the woman sent her daughter with him on the bike. When both the young man and the young woman were returning back, they were stopped by more than half a dozen young men in Darzi Wali Gali in Khalapar.

The accused also made a video and stopped them and beat them up. It is alleged that headscarf was pulled and her hair was pulled. Hearing the noise of young men and women, people rushed and saved them from the accused. The victim has lodged a complaint with the police after informing about the whole matter.

According to Amar Ujala, Khalapar police station registered a case and investigated. After identifying the youths in the video, six accused Muslim youths, Shoaib and Shami and Sartaj, Shadab, Umar, and Arsh, were arrested late Sunday evening. CO City Raju Kumar Sao says that the accused are being interrogated.

According to a report published in Deccan Herald, the girl’s mother and the boy, identified as Sachin, worked as collection agents with a private bank, and the two often went together to collect the instalments of loans from people. On the day of the incident, the woman sent her daughter with Sachin. While returning after collecting the installments on a motorbike, a mob stopped them at Darji gali in the Muslim dominated Khalapur locality of the town. After ascertaining that the boy was Hindu, the mob thrashed him, removed the hijab of the girl, and slapped her. They also made a video of the incident. According to police sources, six persons have been arrested in connection with the case.

According to a tweet by the Muzaffarnagar police that shared a newspaper clipping, the Khalapur police officials arrested Sartaj, Shadab, Mohammed Umar, Arsh, Shoaib, and Shami.

Hence, the attackers who removed the headscarf of a young woman and pulled her hair in Muzaffarnagar do not belong to the Hindu community. The claim is Misleading.