Man accused of raping minor girl in Delhi’s Bapa Nagar falsely identified as Muslim

A video of a man apprehended by a group of people, including a woman who thrashes him, has been shared on social media. The group accuses the man of raping a four-year-old child. Several social media users have shared the video and claimed that the accused is AAP MLA Dinesh Mohaniya’s social media coordinator ‘Akram Khan’.

Similarly, FB page ‘अगले २० साल तक मोदी‘ and Twitter user Akash RSS also made a similar claim. In the past, Akash RSS has been found sharing misinformation on various occasions.

करोलबाग चार साल की बच्ची से बलात्कार करने की कोशिश कर रहा था यह नराधम दिल्ली आम आदमी पार्टी के विधायक दिनेश मोहनिया का सोशल मीडिया कॉडिनेटर *अकरम खान* है , वह तो ईश्वर की कृपा हुई कि लोगों ने बच्ची को समय रहते बचा लिया,

पिटाई के बाद उस सूअर को पुलिस के हवाले कर दिया pic.twitter.com/7DURqkhJJh

— Akash RSS (@Satynistha) September 14, 2021

Accused does not hail from the Muslim community

Using the video verification tool InVID, we were led to a report published by Oneindia Hindi on September 1. As per Oneindia, the incident took place in Delhi’s Bapa Nagar.

India Today reported that a four-year-old girl was allegedly raped in Delhi’s Bapa Nagar on August 31. The accused, who has been arrested under the Protection of Children Against Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, has been identified as Dipesh. SHO Ram Narayan at Prasad Nagar police station told Aaj Tak that Dipesh is not from the Muslim community.

According to Zee News, Dipesh was beaten by the girl’s family and nearby people after the incident. Dipesh used to work at a jeans manufacturing factory near the minor’s locality. The police told India Today, “The girl often used to go there while playing. The man lured the little girl into the factory on the pretext of offering her toffee and instead raped her.”

National Commission for Protection of Child Rights chairperson Priyank Kanoongo told ANI, “We’ll be sending notice. Our priority is to provide medical aid, rehabilitation to the child and are committed to ensuring that the accused is brought to justice. We’ll be sending directives to the authority concerned.”

The video was also tweeted by NDTV journalist Mukesh Singh Sengar identifying the man as Dipesh.

दिल्ली के बापा नगर इलाके में जीन्स की फैक्ट्री में काम करने वाले शख्स दीपेश पर 4 साल की बच्ची से रेप का आरोप,लोगों ने आरोपी की पिटाई की,पुलिस ने केस दर्ज आरोपी को गिरफ्तार किया pic.twitter.com/ts7orMBQm5

— Mukesh singh sengar मुकेश सिंह सेंगर (@mukeshmukeshs) August 31, 2021

The claim that AAP MLA Dinesh Mohaniya’s social media coordinator ‘Akram Khan’ was accused of raping a four-year-old is, therefore, false. The incident was falsely given an anti-Muslim narrative.