Fact Check: Nikki Yadav, accused Sahil Gehlot belong to same community; post shared with false claim

New Delhi (Vishvas News): Amid the controversy over the murder of Nikki Yadav by her live-in partner, Sahil Gehlot, a post is going viral on social media claiming that the accused belongs to the Muslim community. Vishvas News investigated the claim and found that the post is shared with false claims and that Sahil Gehlot belongs to the Hindu community.

Claim:

Facebook user Deepesh Uv shared a screenshot (archive link) of TV9 news on February 15, and wrote in the caption, “In Delhi again a Hindu girl became a victim of Abdul, Nikki Yadav had the intention of doing the same thing as Shraddha.”

Investigation:

To investigate the viral claim, Vishvas News team first did an open search on Google with keywords. According to the news published in Dainik Jagran on February 15, “Sahil Gehlot allegedly murdered Nikki Yadav by strangulating her with a data cable. After committing the crime, Sahil then stuffed Nikki’s dead body in a refrigerator in a roadside eatery, owned by his family, in Mitraon village.”

The Dainik Jagran news report further stated that after killing Nikki and hiding her body in the fridge, Sahil went home and married another woman who was chosen by his family.

A news report published by News18 on February 15, stated that “24-year-old Gehlot had kept Nikki’s body in the fridge of the dhaba after killing her in the car. Then he went back home to marry another woman”. The news report also carried the picture of accused Sahil Gehlot’s wedding.

The Delhi Police crime branch shared the news of Nikki Yadav’s murder on February 14, through its official Twitter handle. The police also mentioned that the name of the accused is Virendra Singh.

For more information, the Vishvas News team spoke to Gautam Mishra, crime reporter of Dainik Jagran in Dwarka, Delhi. He said, “Sahil Gehlot’s father’s name is Virendra Singh. He also belongs to Nikki’s community. The matter is now with the Crime Branch.”

We scanned the profile of Facebook user Deepesh Uv, who shared the post with a communal angle. Accordingly, he lives in Varanasi and is inspired by an ideology.