Recently, a 23-year-old male IT professional dressed in a burqa was arrested for reportedly entering a women’s washroom in Lulu Mall, Kerala. Soon after his arrest, a post went viral on social media claiming that the man belonged to the Muslim community.
A Facebook user shared this video and wrote, “यह बहुत चौंकाने वाला है. केरल के कोच्चि में बुर्का पहने एक मुस्लिम युवक महिलाओं के वॉशरूम में घुस गया और फिर छुपकर महिलाओं का वीडियो बनाने लगा. जैसे ही मॉल के सिक्योरिटी स्टाफ की नजर उस पर पड़ी तो हड़कंप मच गया. इसके बाद आरोपी मुस्लिम था.”
[English Translation: it’s so shocking. In Kerala’s Kochi, a Muslim youth wearing a burqa entered the women’s washroom and then secretly started making videos of the women. As soon as the security staff of the mall caught sight of him, there was a stir. After this, the accused was a Muslim.]
This post can be seen here.
FACT CHECK
NewsMobile fact-checked the above claim and found it to be FALSE.
Performing a keyword search on Google, the NewsMobile team traced multiple news reports in which similar images can be seen. According to the report by Zee News dated August 18, 2023, an IT techie, identified as Abhimanyu, allegedly entered a ladies’ washroom in a mall in Kochi, wearing a burqa and filming videos on his mobile. He was booked for the offences under sections 354(C) (Voyeurism) and 419 (Impersonation) of the IPC and Section 66 E of the Information Technology Act.
On searching further, we came across a Tweet by newswire ANI dated August 18, 2023, in which the accused was named Abhimanyu. The caption of the tweet reads, “Kochi, Kerala | A man namely Abhimanyu, who is an IT techie was arrested and sent to judicial custody after he allegedly entered a ladies’ washroom in a mall, wearing a burqa and filmed videos on mobile. During the inspection, the phone was also found hidden in the toilet: Kochi Police.”
Kochi, Kerala | A man namely Abhimanyu, who is an IT techie was arrested and sent to judicial custody after he allegedly entered a ladies’ washroom in a mall, wearing a burqa and filmed videos on mobile. During the inspection, the phone was also found hidden in the toilet: Kochi… pic.twitter.com/bpnUFCFsgi
— ANI (@ANI) August 18, 2023
We also came across a post by Kochi City police dated August 17, 2023. According to it, Abhimanyu, son of Arjun Das, from Karuvallur who is working in a leading IT firm in Infopark arrested for entering the women’s washroom while wearing a burqa and taking a video with his mobile phone.
Therefore, we can conclusively say that the man arrested for reportedly entering a women’s washroom does not belong to the Muslim community.
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