Arshean Alam social media trial: Alt News probe finds he was at home at the time of the R G Kar rape-murder

A 31-year-old doctor was allegedly raped and murdered at the state-run RG Kar Medical Hospital and College in Kolkata in the wee hours of August 10. Her body was discovered the following morning.

A young house staff working at the same hospital reached his workplace around 3 pm that afternoon after being informed by his friends about the horrific crime. Like other students and doctors in Kolkata, he actively joined the protests at R G Kar, demanding justice for the victim and increased security measures on the campus.

However, today, Dr Arshean Alam is scared to leave his home. What happened between then and now is a social media trial in which his name was floated as one of the accused in the case. Some posts directly claimed he was one of the ‘real culprits’ or ‘murderers’.

Social Media Trial of Arshean Alam

As calls for swift action in the case grew louder, Kolkata Police arrested a civic volunteer named Sanjay Roy based on circumstantial evidence and CCTV footage. According to the latest reports, DNA reports, too, have confirmed his involvement. Forensic experts collected skin samples from the victim’s fingernails and found injuries on Sanjay’s body. On August 13, the Calcutta High Court handed over the case to the CBI, which currently has Sanjay in its custody.

At the same time, several theories have surfaced in public discourse and on social media vis-a-vis the circumstances of the postgraduate trainee’s death. Some people have opined that Sanjay Roy was being made a scapegoat to protect someone. It is also being claimed that the commission of the crime involved more than one person. In this connection, some specific names of doctors from the hospital have surfaced as the accused in the case.

Arshean Alam is one of the names. His name, along with that of another Muslim house staff, is particularly viral across social media platforms.

Right Wing X user Hindutva Knight (@HPhobiaWatch) tweeted the images of Arshean and the other Muslim R G Kar house staff and claimed that the Bengal government was trying to shelter the two. The tweet has received more than 10 Lakh views and has been retweeted over 7,000 times.

Reminder that Bengal Govt is saving these 2 accused. pic.twitter.com/CvsM9WoNsX

— Hindutva Knight (@HPhobiaWatch) August 15, 2024

The Kolkata Police served a notice on the user on grounds of peddling misinformation. In response, the user again tweeted that they would not be deleting their tweet since they felt that the Kolkata Police’s intentions were not right and that the police were trying to save “a few high profile accused.”

Media outlets ABP Live and News 18 mentioned Arshean’s name in their reports.

The claim was also amplified by Right-wing columnist Madhu Kishwar. She tweeted a list which includes Arshean’s name. She claimed that all of the people named were absconding. It is worth noting that most of the names on the list are Muslims and Kishwar claims that the “names explain” why there is a “determined attempt to shield them” and hang Sanjoy Roy who she claims was “tricked into raping her dead body”.

It is being ALLEGED that these five Geniuses could be the ones guilty of barbaric rape &murder of M in the #RGKarCollege .
They are reportedly absconding since August 9.
The names may explain why there is such a determined attempt to shield them and hang just ONE man who was… https://t.co/QKRKRU52Gc pic.twitter.com/bb1KZXH2xt

— Madhu Purnima Kishwar (@madhukishwar) August 19, 2024

Twitter user @MrNationalistJJ tweeted pictures of social media profiles of three names, one of which is Arshean’s. This user claims that these three, whom he identifies as ‘the culprits’, had left the country. (Archive)

These three culprits have already left the country and they are the sons of TMC ministers of West Bengal, who had done this heinous crime.😡#KolkataDoctor #JusticeForMoumita pic.twitter.com/hbq9YJms0d

— Mr. Nationalist (@MrNationalistJJ) August 17, 2024

Arshean’s name was circulated with the same claim by various other social media users. On Facebook, a post mentioning his name as a suspect was published on a group page named West Bengal Doctors Forum. (Archives- 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6)

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Facebook has since been flooded with these claims. Below is a 1-minute screen recording of some posts on Facebook making the same allegation. However, these posts represent only the tip of the iceberg.

Alt News Investigation

Arshean Alam belongs to the batch of 2018 at the government-run R G Kar medical college. He completed his MBBS in 2023 and then did a mandatory one-year internship. After his convocation on May 3, 2024, he joined as a house staff at the trauma care unit of R G Kar Hospital. Alt News could independently establish that Arshean was at home and not at the hospital on the night of the alleged crime.

The autopsy of the slain doctor put the time of death between 3 and 5 am. Sanjay Roy, the prime accused, was seen entering the seminar hall on the third floor in the emergency building of the hospital around 4 am. During our investigation into Arshean’s whereabouts on that night, we reviewed CCTV footage from a shop next to his house, covering the hours between 1 am and 5 am. In the viewing of the footage, we found Arshean entering his home at 1.16 am, which is well before the time of the commission of the crime. We observed no movement from Arshean till 5 am, which confirms that he was at home when the crime was committed.

We visited his house and confirmed that there was no second exit through which one could get in or out. Other than the main entry/exit, we found another exit which was closed with an iron shutter, and locals told us that the shutter had been dysfunctional for at least one year. On the outside, we found pieces of rag hanging from a rope tied to it, further suggesting that the exit is not in use.

Alt News also spoke to joint commissioner (crime) of Kolkata Police Murlidhar Sharma who had been directly involved in the investigation before CBI took over. He told us that according to their findings, Arshean was not involved in the case in any way.

All of this proves with certainty that the suggestion on social media that Arshean Alam was directly involved in the commissioning of the crime at Kolkata’s R G Kar hospital is false. And he is not absconding.

Alt News spoke at length to Arshean. He said, “I am in a state of mental distress. I was at home, yet I am being implicated in this case. This has been incredibly difficult for me and my family. My reputation in society is being tarnished, and this amounts to defamation. A hate campaign is being spread by various social media accounts, and I fear for my safety and that of my family.”

He also informed us that he had filed an FIR against social media users who actively amplified baseless claims against him. Alt News saw a copy of the FIR. According to his complaint, the users posted several messages along with his photographs with the intent to promote enmity on communal grounds. It was further alleged that the messages contained false and fabricated accusations intended to implicate him in criminal cases and malign his reputation. The FIR has been filed under Sections 356, 351, 192, 196, and 61(2) of the BNS Act. Arshean has also mailed social media platforms regarding this.

We also spoke to a close friend and batchmate of Arshean. He told us, “We’re all upset about what’s happening to him. I know he couldn’t have done it because he was at home. Now his entire career is at stake. People have started abusing us for our association with Arshean, and our pictures with him online are flooded with abusive remarks. Our entire circle has been kicked out of the batch’s WhatsApp group because of this social media trial.”

At the time of the writing of this article, the claim is also viral on Instagram and WhatsApp. On Instagram, templates carrying his name have been shared extensively.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Related