“A Tindutvawadi terrorist Vanushan Balakrishnan killed a 16-year-old Sikh refugee with a knife,” wrote ‘Sikhs for Guyana’ on Twitter. With this tweet, the user is implying that a terrorist Hindu, Vanushan Balakrishnan killed an Afghani Sikh refugee.
Taranjit, tweeted, “All play a significant role in radicalising these young minds! Hindutva terrorism is becoming more prominent in the UK!.” Like the above tweet, Taranjit also called, the killer of the Sikh refugee, a Hindutva terrorist.
To give you the full picture, according to the Tribune, On the night of November 24, 2021, Rishmeet, a Sikh youth, after spending a pleasant evening with his friends in the park, he was returning home when he noticed two unknown individuals running towards him.
However, he dashed along Raleigh Road in Southall, where he tripped and fell. One of his pursuers then stabbed him at least five times in the back.
Moreover, the second individual then continued to stab Rishmeet at least ten times. According to the Met Police, the two assailants left his bleeding and mutilated body on the ground.
Officers and the London Ambulance Service rushed to the site after receiving a 999 call from a member of the public, but Rishmeet died at the scene despite their best attempts.
So, the question before us is whether the perpetrators murdered Rishmeet because of his Sikh ideology. Why is the Twitter user just mentioning one of the two killers in the incident? Is this whole unfortunate tragic occurrence related to Hindutva or the Sikh angle?
Fact Check
We began our quest for the truth by doing a Google search with relevant keywords. We found that most of the mainstream media had reported this incident back in November 2021.
The Times of India reported, ‘Rishmeet Singh, who was named locally, was killed by a gang on the residential Raleigh Road in Hounslow, near Southall, at around 9 pm on Wednesday. Rishmeet was killed by a Somalian gang, said Members of the Sikh community. One theory is that they were trying to steal his Gucci pouch, which was fake. Rishmeet died at the scene shortly after the paramedics arrived.’
The Hindustan Times reported, “The boy, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was arrested on suspicion of murder on Thursday and appeared at Wimbledon magistrate’s court on Friday.” The report added, “A second 19-year-old man arrested on Tuesday has been bailed to a date in late December.”
Therefore, with these reports, we have established the fact that in 2021, there were two people who mercilessly stabbed Rishmeet on the streets of London. The other reality is that it was a gang war, supposedly, a Somalian gang, as reported by TOI.
However, the question is, if Rishmeet was killed in 2021, then why the sudden Twitter outburst by some users?
Hence, we looked for updates and proceedings in this case, and we found that lately, several news channels have reported this matter.
On May 11, the BBC reported, “Two teenagers who murdered a boy after mistaking him for a rival gang member have received life sentences.” The report further said, “Vanushan Balakrishnan and Ilyas Suleiman, now 18, used a machete and a Rambo knife to stab Rishmeet 15 times.”
Vanushan Balakrishnan was sentenced to 24 years and Ilyas Suleiman was sentenced to 21 years.
On May 10, The Metro reported, “Two gang members who stabbed a 16-year-old Afghan refugee to death after mistaking him for a rival have been jailed for life.
Vanushan Balakrishnan and Ilyas Suleiman, both 18, knifed Rishmeet Singh 15 times in a frenzied 27-second attack in Southall, west London, on November 24, 2021.”
In a televised sentencing hearing at the Old Bailey court, Judge Sarah Munro described this case as “tragic.” The judge said Rishmet was an “entirely innocent victim” who came to the UK with his mother and grandmother in 2019.
We now have substantial evidence to claim that Rishmeet, a Sikh youngster, was murdered by two people. The names of the two convicts are Vanushan Balakrishnan and Ilyas Suleiman. And it was a gang fight involving a case of mistaken identity, not religious hatred. Furthermore, the tweets claiming a Hindu terrorist killed an Afghani Sikh refugee are an outright lie.
It has become a fad that the extremists look for a religious angle to feed their propaganda whenever an unfortunate incident happens. However, the only fact is vigilant as ever to bring the truth to your screen.
Also read: Fact Check: Debunking Al Jazeera anti-India propaganda
| Claim | A Hindu terrorist killed an Afghani Sikh refugee in London |
| Claimed by | Twitter users |
| Fact Check | Fake |
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