The Uttar Pradesh police have lodged an FIR against two journalists for allegedly spreading fake news on Twitter, about alleged rape and murder of two Dalit girls in Fatehpur district.
The FIR was filed by station officer, Ranjeet Bahadur Singh, where he named a journalist of television news channel ‘Bharat Samachar’ and a freelance journalist, identified as Dhara Singh Yadav, The Indian Express reported.
Singh, in his complaint, said that he was on patrol duty at Chichnivillage and Bala Bala town when he came to know that Bharat Samachar’s journalist and Yadav were spreading fake news on Twitter. The two journalists were allegedly spreading fake news that the two girls were raped and murdered, and their bodies were thrown in the pond, with hands and legs tied. The news outraged many on social media.
The police clarified that the girls, aged 8 and 11 had died while trying to pluck water chestnut from the pond, Singh said the journalists were spreading fake news to create animosity between the Dalit and other communities.
Circle Officer Anil Kumar told the media that the post mortem report did not mention sexual assault or any other violence. The cause of death has been due to drowning.
The FIR has been lodged under sections 153-A (promoting enmity between different groups), 353 (assault or criminal force to deter public servant from the discharge of his duty) of the Indian Penal Code, Section 7 of the Criminal Law Amendment Act, and Section 67 of the Information Technology Act.
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