Communal spin, fake news around B'luru killing unravels

NT Correspondent Bengaluru: The recovery of a woman’s dismembered body from her apartment in Bengaluru on September 22 was used by many to peddle inflammatory disinformation. One Mahalakshmi (29), who lived alone in Vinayaka Nagar, was killed on September 2. However, her dismembered body was discovered 20 days later only after her landlord noticed a foul smell emanating from her apartment. The moment the news came out, right wing influencers with large followings began peddling the narrative that Mahalakshmi, a Hindu woman, was killed by her Muslim partner Ashraf. They cited the case of Shraddha Walkar, who was allegedly similarly killed and dismembered in May 2022 by her partner Aftab, who is of Muslim descent. The claim was accompanied by the stereotype of Muslim men brutalising their Hindu partners based on one case. The false news was promoted prominently by News 18 anchor Aman Chopra. Others who spread the disinformation were social media accounts like “Mr Sinha”, Rishi Bagree and Kajal Hindustani on social media site X (previously Twitter).

Murder-suicide all but certain: However, the prime suspect in the murder turned out to be the victim’s co-worker Mukti Ranjan Ray, a Hindu by faith, who died by suicide later. His body was found dangling from a tree in his native village of Bhuinpur of Bhadrak district in Odisha on September 25. Apparently, he had fled to his village after killing Mahalakshmi. Moreover, no less than three persons said Ray confessed his crime to them. Ray is accused of being Mahalakshmi’s partner. The victim allegedly kept nagging Ray to marry her, causing the perpetrator to grow frustrated and kill her. This begs the question how one Ashraf was declared guilty by some right wing influencers during the early stages of the investigation. On September 23 – a day after the body was recovered – the victim’s estranged husband Hemant Das told mediapersons that he suspected one Ashraf from Uttarakhand to be the murderer. Das alleged Ashraf was her wife’s partner. This was reportedly the source of the false news. Vyalikaval police did question Ashraf on the day but they also grilled three co-workers of Mahalakshmi namely Mukta, Sunil and Shashidhar. The latter was her manager. However, some in social media latched on to only one name.