Recently, a video showing a Muslim passenger wearing a beard and cap being slapped by another passenger inside an airplane has spread widely on social media. Many people sharing the video claimed that the man who harassed the Muslim passenger was Hindu.

See such posts shared on Facebook here (archive), here (archive), and here (archive).
Fact-check
Rumor Scanner team’s investigation found that the claim of a Muslim co-passenger being harassed by a Hindu inside the airplane is not true. In fact, the man who harassed the Muslim passenger with a beard and cap is not Hindu; he, too, is Muslim. The name of the harasser is Hafizul Rahman.
The Rumor Scanner began the investigation by analyzing the viral video. In the video, several other passengers can be heard speaking in Hindi in reaction to the incident. Many of them were seen protesting the slap against the Muslim man.
Following the leads, a report was found on the Indian news outlet NDTV’s website, titled Man Slapped By Co-Passenger On IndiGo Flight Goes Missing, Claims Family, published on August 2.

According to the report, the incident occurred on IndiGo’s Mumbai-Kolkata-Assam-bound flight 6E-2387. The victim’s name is Husen Ahmed Mazumdar. He is a resident of the Cachar district in the Indian state of Assam. He was travelling from Mumbai to Silchar, the headquarters of Cachar district. During the flight, he experienced a panic attack, and flight attendants came to assist him off the plane. At that moment, the accused slapped Husen.
The report claimed that the person who harassed Husen is named Hafizul Rahman. It was mentioned that after the plane landed in Kolkata, the airline authorities handed Hafizul Rahman over to the police. However, it was later reported that he was released. But since the incident, Husen Ahmed Mazumdar has gone missing, according to the report. Though he was supposed to catch a connecting flight to Silchar from Kolkata, he missed it. His phone has been switched off, and the family members who went to receive him at the Silchar airport could no longer contact him, the report added.
Later, he was found at Barpeta railway station in Assam, approximately 800 kilometres from Kolkata and 400 kilometres from his intended destination, Silchar.
A keyword search also led to an official statement published on the Facebook page of Bidhannagar City Police regarding the incident.

The statement also confirmed that in the August 1 incident on the IndiGo flight, both the accused and the victim were Muslim. The accused was identified as Hafizul Rahman.
Following the incident, IndiGo imposed a travel ban on the harasser from flying on any of its flights and stated on their X account.

Therefore, the claim that a Hindu man slapped a Muslim man inside an airplane in India is false.
Sources
- NDTV Website: Man Slapped By Co-Passenger On IndiGo Flight Goes Missing, Claims Family
- Gulf News Website: IndiGo passenger slapped mid-flight, goes missing—found 800km away at railway station
- Bidhannagar City Police Facebook Page Post
- IndiGo X Account Post
- Rumor Scanner’s Analysis