Fact Check: Men assaulting tribal girls in a street are not affiliated to BJP
The first phase of voting for the 18th Lok Sabha elections was held in 21 states and union territories on April 19, 2024. More than 16.63% voters cast their votes in states like Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, etc
BJP workers
The first phase of voting for the 18th Lok Sabha elections was held in 21 states and union territories on April 19, 2024. More than 65.5% voters cast their votes in states like Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, etc. The general elections to elect 543 members for the Lok Sabha will be held in seven phases, from April 19 to June 1. The results will be announced on June 4.
In the context of elections underway, manipulated and false narratives are viral on social media. One such image is in circulation claiming that a few men, belonging to Bharatiya Janata Party, sexually assaulted tribal girls in Madhya Pradesh.
The image is shared with the caption in Telugu: “బీజేపీ పాలిత మధ్యప్రదేశ్ రాష్ట్రంలో దారుణం. నడి రోడ్డు మీద గిరిజన అమ్మాయిల పై బీజేపీ రౌడీల దౌర్జన్యం. మధ్యప్రదేశ్ లో బీజేపీ గుండాలు గిరిజన అమ్మాయిల మీద బహిరంగంగా లైంగిక వేధింపులకు గురి చేశారు. బీజేపీ రాక్షస రాజ్యంలో దళితులు, గిరిజనుల దీన పరిస్థితి ఇది. సిగులేని బతుకులు.”
When translated, it claims: “Atrocity in BJP-ruled Madhya Pradesh. Violence of BJP bullies on tribal girls on Nadi road. In Madhya Pradesh, BJP goons openly sexually assaulted tribal girls. This is the plight of Dalits and tribals in BJP's ruthless governance. Shameless people.”
Fact Check:
The claim is False. The incident of some men sexually assaulting tribal girls on the road happened in March 2022.
When we performed a Google reverse image search of the image, we found that the incident occurred in the year 2022. The incident has no relation with any political party, including the BJP.
According to India TV news, a distressing video went viral on Twitter where a woman was sexually assaulted by a group of men in broad daylight in Madhya Pradesh’s Alirajpur district. The video was shot during a tribal festival Bhagoria, celebrated in the region ahead of Holi. The clip shows a woman trying to hide behind a vehicle, when a man, passing by her, tries to assault her. When she's rescued from him, another man, who is also walking by, comes back and tries to assault her again. She was then seen brutally dragged into a group of men. They all try groping her, as she screams for help.
The assault video was also shared by NDTV.com.
According to an article published on Indiatimes.com in March 2022, the police denied that the “molesters" were politically affiliated. Cops said the trio was booked under sections 354 (assault or criminal force to woman with an intent to outrage her modesty) and 345-A (sexual harassment) and 34 (criminal acts done by several persons with common intention) of the Indian Penal Code. No woman has lodged a complaint with us. We took the action based on the video that has gone viral, they said.
Hence, the claim that the viral image is recent and shows people affiliated to the BJP assaulting a tribal woman is False. The incident is old, the accused do not have any political affiliation.