Fact-Check: Mentally ill girl threw eggs on Lord Ram’s posters, viral claim is misleading

New Delhi (Vishvas News): A video is going viral on social media platforms in which a woman can be seen doing something on a platform built in the middle of the road. However, it is not clear in the video what the woman is doing. The video is shared with the claim that a burqa-clad woman stopped her scooter and threw an egg at Shri Ram’s poster in Maharashtra’s Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar. Vishvas News fact-checked the viral post and found the claim to be misleading and communally triggering. In the investigation, it was found out that the woman’s name was Shailja and she is suffering from mental illness. She was arrested by the police after the incident.

Claim:

Facebook user Ranveer Singh Negi uploaded a video (archive link) on May 20 and wrote, “Where is this poison being stored? Why does the burqa clad woman hate Lord Shriram so much? Parked the scooty on the road and then threw eggs on the picture of Lord Shri Ram. The incident is from Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar in Maharashtra. Courtesy Sudarshan News.”

The video also carried the text, “Jihadi Khatoon in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar. Stopped the scooty and threw an egg at Shri Ram’s poster.” Believing this to be true, other users are also making it viral. The content of the post is written as it is.

Investigation:

Vishvas News fact-checked the viral post. The logo of Sudarshan News is clearly visible in the video. So, we first scanned the Twitter handle of Sudarshan News where we found the original video posted on May 20, 2023, with a communal claim. Words like Burqadhari Mahila, and Jihadi Khatoon were used in the text.

Taking the investigation further, we scanned the Twitter handle of the Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar Police Commissioner and found a press note dated May 20. In this two-page press note in Marathi, the name of the woman was mentioned as Shailja Vishal Udavet alias Shilpa Ramrao Garud. This 38-year-old woman is mentally ill. The press note further stated that the woman is suffering from depression due to which she did such an act.

During the search, a video of Police Commissioner Manoj Lohia was also found. In the video, he can be seen appealing not to make the misleading post viral. He said that the woman was a Hindu and acted like this due to depression.

Taking the investigation forward, we scanned the e-paper of Divya Marathi’s Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar edition and found a news report related to the incident. In the news published on May 22, it was stated that Shailja alias Shilpa was arrested for insulting a religious place and religious image. She was released on bail with conditions. The police had seized the vehicle used in the incident. The police said that the woman is suffering from mental illness.

Taking the investigation forward, Vishvas News contacted Manoj Tak, a senior journalist from Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar and shared the viral video with him. He told that no Muslim woman was involved in this incident. The name of the accused woman is Shailja. She is mentally disturbed.

We also scanned the account of the user who made the fake claim. No specific information was not available on the account of Facebook user Ranveer Singh Negi, but it is certain that the user is influenced by a political ideology.