A video of a young woman is viral on social media with the false claim that she is the 26-year-old veterinarian who was gang-raped and murdered in Hyderabad on November 27.
The Claim
In the video, a woman is delivering a speech. One can hear in the four-minute-long video, the announcer saying ‘Shrimati Allola Divya Reddy from Telangana’. On the podium from where the woman delivers her speech, one can spot a sign that reads ‘Union Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare’, and the seal of the government of India.
https://www.facebook.com/101807494625833/videos/452986512080455/?v=452986512080455
The video is being circulated widely on Facebook with a caption in Hindi, which translates to: “The death of Divya Reddy in the Hyderabad case is not only an end of a doctor, but a government awarded vet scientist and researcher has been sacrificed for lust. This is incredible harm to the world.”
This video is viral in the aftermath of the brutal gang-rape and murder of the Hyderabad vet, and the subsequent encounter that killed the four accused in December 2019.
The Truth
The woman in the viral video is not the Hyderabad gang-rape and murder victim.
As can be heard in the video, the woman introduces herself as Divya Allola Reddy. On searching with the same name on YouTube, one can find a 4.25-minute-long video uploaded by a YouTube channel Klimom on June 2, 2018.
The description of the same video on YouTube read: ‘Watch Allola Divya Reddy speak on winning the National Gopal Ratna Award 2018.’
From the 14 seconds time-stamp, the same visuals as in the viral video can be spotted here.
Divya is a 35-year-old woman and the founder of ‘Klimom’, a wellness farm in Hyderabad which aims at producing good cow milk by raising Indian native cow breed.
A Google search with her name results in multiple articles on her and her enterprise.
Therefore, the woman in the viral video is not the Hyderabad gang-rape and murder victim.
Creating or sharing fake news is never justified. We have a responsibility to verify everything that we post on the internet. To ensure that our national debate is healthy and well-informed, each and every one of us has a responsibility of treating what we read with a pinch of salt, a spoonful of doubt, and a flood of research.
If you have any news that you believe needs to be fact-checked, please email us at [email protected]
Also Read: Fact Check: No, ‘9969777888’ Is Not Bengaluru & Telangana Police Women Helpline Number
