The family of the 19-year-old Dalit woman who was allegedly gang-raped and murdered in Uttar Pradesh’s Hathras had alleged that she was forcibly cremated. According to the family, the police had taken her body away for the last rites in the middle of the night.
Amid this, a photograph purportedly showing Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath watching the cremation of the deceased victim of the alleged gang-rape in Hathras on a laptop is being circulated on social media.
‘An incompetent Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh watching ‘live’ how the Hathras rape victim was burnt by the UP Police (Translated from Hindi)’ reads the caption of one such post.
The photo has been shared several times on Twitter as well.
हाथरस गैंग रेप पिड़िता को युपी की जल्लाद पुलिस वालों ने कैसे जलाया उसकी लाइव वीडियो देखता हुआ एक नाकारा मुख्यमंत्री pic.twitter.com/3GlB6SbNMm
— Neeraj Yadav (@NeerajY74802138) September 30, 2020
हाथरस गैंग रेप पिड़िता को युपी की जल्लाद पुलिस वालों ने कैसे जलाया उसकी लाइव वीडियो देखता हुआ एक नाकारा मुख्यमंत्री ! pic.twitter.com/7Y5ijBUmcX
— Bittu Yadav (@BittuYa45247059) October 2, 2020
क्या यह सही है जो दिख रहा है⁉️’हाथरस गैंग रेप पिड़िता को युपी की जल्लाद पुलिस वालों ने कैसे जलाया उसकी लाइव वीडियो देखता हुआ एक नाकारा मुख्यमंत्री’ pic.twitter.com/vBe86xI8Lb
— Saroj Yadav (@Sarojyadavsp) October 2, 2020
‘The police have forcibly taken the dead body, and my father along with them for cremation. When my father reached Hathras, he was immediately taken (to the crematorium) by the police,’ the woman’s brother told news agency PTI.
The victim’s body reached her village around midnight. The cremation was done by 3 AM on Wednesday, September 30. Villagers claimed that the administration pressed for cremation at the earliest even as they wanted to take the body of the woman to her house, Hindustan Times reported.
Claim:
Photo shows UP CM Yogi Adityanath watching Hathras victim’s cremation.
Fact Check:
The claim is false.
A reverse image search of the photo led to an NDTV report which was published on September 30, 2020.
The photo carried by the report is the original version of the viral photograph.
Lucknow: Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath speaks to the family of #Hathras gang-rape victim, via video conferencing. pic.twitter.com/htIprJUk0W
— ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) September 30, 2020
Reportedly, following nationwide outrage over the woman’s gang-rape and subsequent death and the manner in which the police cremated her in the middle of the night against her family’s wishes, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath had spoken to the family via video-link.
He talked to the woman’s father and assured him of stringent action against the four men who have been arrested.
‘The Chief Minister has spoken to the father. Her father…asked for harshest penalty against the accused. The Chief Minister assured him that the most stringent action would be taken against the accused and all possible help would be provided to the family,’ Additional Chief Secretary (Home) Awanish Kumar Awasthi was quoted as saying.
The victim’s father was also quoted as saying that the CM had indeed spoken to him and assured justice for his daughter.
I spoke to CM Yogi today. He has assured us that we will get justice. It is true that we didn’t get to see our daughter. We are hopeful that we will get justice: Father of Hathras gang-rape victim https://t.co/cBz7brI0UW pic.twitter.com/iTo7b5hpWD
— ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) September 30, 2020
Below is a comparison of the original photo tweeted by news agency ANI (left) and the viral photo (right):
Therefore, the viral photo is doctored.
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