Authors
Kushel HM is a mechanical engineer-turned-journalist, who loves all things football, tennis and films. He was with the news desk at the Hindustan Times, Mumbai, before joining Newschecker.
Ruby leads editorial, operations and initiatives at Newschecker. In her former avatar at New Delhi Television (NDTV), India’s leading national news network, she was a news anchor, supervising producer and senior output editor. Her over a decade-long career encompasses ground-breaking reportage from conflict zones and reporting on terror incidents, election campaigns, and gender issues. Ruby is an Emmy-nominated producer and has handled both local and international assignments, including the coverage of Arab Spring in 2011, the US Presidential elections in 2016, and ground reportage on the Kashmir issue since 2009.
Claim
A video circulating on social media alleges that an Indian tourist, Kanti Lal, indecently assaulted a woman inside a Dollar Tree store in Philadelphia and was seen fleeing the scene.
The video sparked outrage and targeted misinformation about the alleged perpetrator’s identity.
Fact
A keyword search for “Indian man sexual assault Philadelphia dollar tree store”, did not lead us to any credible news reports about such an incident.
A reverse image search of the video’s keyframes led to an X post dated July 11, 2024, from user @unlimited_ls. The post confirmed that the Philadelphia police were indeed searching for a man accused of ejaculating on a woman’s leg in a Dollar Tree store confirming that such an incident did take place.
Further investigation led to an NBC Philadelphia report from July 11, 2024. The report identified the suspect as Gary Miles, a 35-year-old Philadelphia resident. Miles was charged with indecently assaulting a female employee at the Dollar Tree store in South Philadelphia on June 23, 2024.
“Police said Miles indecently assaulted a female employee inside the Dollar Tree store on East Snyder Avenue back on June 23, 2024…Video that appeared to show the aftermath of the incident was posted on social media, however. The viral clip shows a man running away from the store while a crying female employee yells that the man ejaculated on her leg… Miles was later arrested on Wednesday, July 10, on the 6600 block of Greenway Street, police said,” read the report.
A Fox29 report dated July 11, 2024, revealed that Miles surrendered to the police voluntarily after his video went viral. Further, the report also mentioned that Miles has faced multiple arrests for incidents dating back to 2011, with “charges including indecent exposure, open lewdness, disorderly conduct, and burglary”.
Similar reports can be seen here, here and here, which all confirmed that the man in the video was Gary Miles from southwest Philadelphia and not an “Indian tourist named Kanti Lal” as claimed in the viral X post. There is also a mugshot of Miles, seen in the July 12, 2024 Fox29 report, where you can clearly see he is not Indian.
Also Read: AI-Generated Video Of Elon Musk Getting A Haircut From A Robot Goes Viral
Result: False
Sources
NBC Philadelphia report, July 11, 2024
Fox29 Philadelphia report, July 12, 2024
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Authors
Kushel HM is a mechanical engineer-turned-journalist, who loves all things football, tennis and films. He was with the news desk at the Hindustan Times, Mumbai, before joining Newschecker.
Ruby leads editorial, operations and initiatives at Newschecker. In her former avatar at New Delhi Television (NDTV), India’s leading national news network, she was a news anchor, supervising producer and senior output editor. Her over a decade-long career encompasses ground-breaking reportage from conflict zones and reporting on terror incidents, election campaigns, and gender issues. Ruby is an Emmy-nominated producer and has handled both local and international assignments, including the coverage of Arab Spring in 2011, the US Presidential elections in 2016, and ground reportage on the Kashmir issue since 2009.
