A horrifying picture of a girl's body surrounded by her family members is viral on Facebook with captions falsely linking it to an incident in Badaun, Uttar Pradesh, where a 50-year-old woman was gang-raped and brutally murdered allegedly by a priest and two others on January 3, 2021.
BOOM found that the viral picture is from an incident where a 20-year-old woman was murdered in a field near her home in Unnao, UP, on December 24, 2018. We spoke to Badaun police and confirmed that the picture was not related to the gang-rape that took place in the district recently. We also spoke to Ranvijay Singh, a reporter who had covered the Unnao murder case in 2018 and confirmed that the girl in the viral picture was murdered by her neighbour.
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The picture is viral in the backdrop of a horrifying gang-rape and murder case from Badaun, UP. A 50-year-old anganwadi worker was raped allegedly by a temple priest and two others on January 3. Police have made two arrests in the case while the alleged priest is still absconding. According to a news report, station house officer of Ughaiti police station has been suspended for 'laxity in the case'.
The disturbing picture is viral with a Hindi caption which translates to 'Badayun Gang-rape murder case, a 50-year-old woman who had gone to a temple was gang-raped and murdered. The brutality committed during the gang-rape would put a monster to shame. But the priest and his disciples were worst than a monster. Badaun police did not act on the case for two days. This is the limits of brutality'.
(Hindi: बदायूं गैंगरेप-मर्डर केस, मंदिर गई 50 वर्षीय महिला को गैंगरेप के बाद मर्डर कर दिया गया. गैंगरेप के दौरान जो भयावहता की गई शायद राक्षस भी कांप जाता. लेकिन महंत और उसके चेले दानव निकले.बदायूं पुलिस 2 दिन तक मामला छिपाए रही. ये हैवानियत की पराकाष्ठा है #UpMeJangalraj)
View the viral post here and check its archived version here.
Note: The picture is disturbing in nature, viewers' discretion is advised.
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Fact Chcek
BOOM did a reverse image search on the viral picture and found it published on website Bolta Hindustan on December 25, 2018.
The Bolta Hindustan article states that a 20-year-old girl from Unnao, UP, was found murdered in a farm on December 24. Taking cue from the report we did a keyword search with relevant words and found some other reports on the incident.
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Another report published in Gaon Connection on December 26, 2018 provides important details on the case. According to the report, the girl, a native of Sewak Kheda village in Unnao was murdered by a youth named Satish Yadav alias Mulayam, who was later arrested.
BOOM contacted Ranvijay Singh, the reporter who had covered the murder case, who confirmed to us that the now-viral picture is from the same incident.
A video uploaded on Gaon Connection's YouTube channel gives more details on the case.
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BOOM also contacted Badaun police who confirmed to us that the viral image is not related to the recent incident in the district. We have also contacted the Unnao police and the report will be updated when we get a response.