Fact Check: Image of Funeral procession of Meerut temple priest viral as Pune doctor’s funeral
The viral post claiming about the funeral procession of Dr Ramakant Joshi in Pune is fake. The picture is from the funeral procession of temple priest Ramesh Mathur in Meerut, Uttar Pradesh.
- By: Abhishek Parashar
- Published: Sep 3, 2020 at 12:27 PM
New Delhi (Vishvas
News). A viral picture of a
funeral procession is shared on social media with a claim that a doctor from Pune
died of coronavirus and was cremated by Muslims.
Vishvas News investigation revealed the claim to be fake. The procession at
Meerut, Uttar Pradesh is viral as in Pune, Maharashtra. The picture is viral
with false claims as the deceased Dr Ramakant Joshi is from Pune. However, we
found out that the deceased person’s name is Ramesh Chand Mathur.
Claim
Social media user ‘Roman Kravencheko’ sharing the viral picture (archive link ) wrote, “@ sinha_ankit9 this is a case of Pune doctor who died because of Covid-19… Muslims are performing funeral for this man because his own kids are abroad… his name is Dr Ramakant Joshi .. would you have done this for any muslim? ”
Many users shared this picture with similar claims on different social media platforms .
The news (archive link )on the website of Kohraam.com also used this picture and claimed that a doctor died of coronavirus in Pune, Maharashtra, after which the people of Tabligi Jamaat came forward to cremate his body.
Investigation
On searching the image using Google reverse image search tool, we found this picture in the news published in the Times of India website on 30 April 2020. According to the news, after the demise of Ramesh Mathur, a priest of a temple in Meerut, Uttar Pradesh, Muslims came forward to take out funeral procession. Mathur lived with his wife and son in Shahpeer Gate area in Meerut.
On searching the news, we found a detailed report of this matter in the news on April 29 on the ‘Dainik Jagran’ website. Another picture of the same funeral procession is attached in the news.
According to the report, “After the death of the priest, a resident of Kayastha Dharamshala at Shahpeer Gate, relatives could not come to perform his last rites. People from the surrounding Muslim community supported the family and performed funeral at Surajkund Crematorium.
The news reported added that Mathur was a priest for a temple.
We contacted our colleague Dainik Jagran’s Meerut reporter. Confirming this, City Reporter Om Vajpayee said, “This picture is the funeral procession of a priest residing in Kayastha Dharamshala at Shahpir Gate, Meerut.”
Jagran’s report clarified that Muslims in the locality supported Mathur’s family with supplies for the funeral procession and former councilor Hifzurrahman had also participated in the funeral. Vishvas News contacted Hifzurrahman and he confirmed the picture and described it as Ramesh Mathur’s funeral.
After this, we tried to find the news of the
death of doctor Ramakant Joshi from coronavirus through a news search. In
the search we did not find any such report.
The user , who
shared the viral picture with the false claim, is a Canadian according to his
profile and he is researcher about Indian minority and Islam religion.
Conclusion: The viral post claiming about the funeral procession of Dr Ramakant Joshi in Pune is fake. The picture is from the funeral procession of temple priest Ramesh Mathur in Meerut, Uttar Pradesh.
- Claim Review : a doctor from Pune died of coronavirus and was cremated by Muslims in Pune
- Claimed By : Twitter User Roman Kravencheko
- Fact Check : False
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