Puducherry CM pays tribute to Hathras victim; uses wrong photo: Fact-check

Puducherry CM is shown paying tribute to the Hathras victim, but the photo is of another girl, which was widely circulated on social media as hers.

The entire nation is in shock and outraged over the Hathras gang-rape incident. But the incidents that followed the horrific tragedy have disturbed the conscious of everyone — so much so that Allahabad HC took suo motu cognisance of the matter and directed top officials from the UP government prepare reports of alleged inhumane behaviour by the police.

The entire nation is grieving and in rage over what happened and how the victim's body was cremated in haste and her family was ripped off basic human and fundamental rights. Political leaders, especially from the opposition, have set march to Hathras to pay tributes by meeting the family of the victim, which has led to another controversy. But some leaders chose to pay humble tributes to the deceased by hosting a memorial service.

Puducherry CM V Narayanaswamy, who has been critical of the UP government's and police over the Hathras incident, held a memorial service for the 19-year-old Dalit woman, who was brutally raped and later succumbed to her injuries. The gesture might be noble, but there was one problem with the service.

Fact-check

Puducherry CM paid tribute to the deceased victim but used a picture of someone else. The image used was of a girl, which went viral recently on social media, claiming to be of the Hathras victim. The girl in the photo, in the backdrop of a sugarcane field, is not that of the Hathras gang-rape victim, which was confirmed by the deceased's family, Boom Live reported.

Regardless, the picture was widely shared across all social media platforms. In fact, several verified handles even shared the photo along with the victim's name.

The girl in the photo had originally passed away in 2018 in Chandigarh due to alleged negligence of doctors. The image was then used in a campaign to get justice as the police had refused to register an FIR.

Puducherry CM has since deleted the tweet, which showed him paying tribute to the deceased along with the victim's name.