Fact Check: Image of old murder case shared with false claim of links to Manipur violence
A picture of an old murder incident in Mathura, Uttar Pradesh, is being shared with the false claim that a Meitei community woman was raped and murdered in Manipur.
- By Vishvas News
- Updated: May 11, 2023
New Delhi (Vishvas News): After the northeastern state of Manipur was rocked by violence, a picture of a girl’s body is being shared on social media with misleading claims. In the viral post, it has been alleged that the picture is of a nurse from the Meitei community, who was raped and murdered inside a hospital by rioters from the Kuki community.
Vishvas News’ investigation found the claim to be false. The viral picture is of an old incident which took place in Uttar Pradesh. The case pertains to the murder of Ayushi Yadav whose body was found in a suitcase on the Yamuna Expressway in 2022. Ayushi’s parents were imprisoned after Uttar Pradesh Police uncovered evidence of their involvement. The picture related to this case is now being linked to violence between Meitai and Kuki communities in Manipur.
Claim:
Twitter user ‘Chao’ shared the viral picture (archive link) with the caption, “What is this then? A Meitei nurse working in Ccpur rape by kuki inside the hospital and brutally killed! #ManipurViolence #letthismadnessend”
Several other users have shared the image with similar claims.
Investigation
Vishvas News has already fact-checked this viral image. After the Shraddha Walkar murder case in Delhi, another girl’s body was found in a suitcase on the Yamuna Expressway. This incident was reported from Mathura in Uttar Pradesh where a red suitcase containing the girl’s body was found. The police investigation had found the parents were responsible for the murder. The father and mother, Nitesh Yadav and Brajbala, had also confessed to their crime.
News agency ANI also reported the incident on November 18, 2022 through a tweet. According to the police, prima facie it seemed that the body was dumped here after being murdered elsewhere.
This old fact check report of Vishvas News can be read here.
Vishvas News had contacted the then city in-charge Superintendent of Police Martand Prakash Singh regarding the viral claim. He had confirmed that the incident took place in Mathura, Uttar Pradesh, in which there was no communal angle and the police had arrested the girl’s parents in the matter.
Meanwhile, in Manipur, internet and broadband services were suspended for five days after violence broke out across the state against the demand for inclusion of the Meitei community in the list of Scheduled Tribes.
According to an ANI report on May 8, curfew was relaxed in Manipur’s capital Imphal on Monday. Manipur’s Security Advisor Kuldeep Singh said 37 people have died in this violence so far.
Other fact check reports by Vishvas News related to Manipur violence can be read here. The month of April was full of political activity after the announcement of the Karnataka election and the same theme reflected in Fact Check Trends as well. In the month of April, Vishvas News published around 150 fact check reports and majority of these reports were fact checks related to political topics. One can read this special report of Vishvas News to understand the trends of misinformation on Indian social media in the month of April.
Conclusion: A picture of an old murder incident in Mathura, Uttar Pradesh, is being shared with the false claim that a Meitei community woman was raped and murdered in Manipur.