A recent photo of a padlocked grave has been circulating on social media, with false claims linking it to the issue of rape and necrophilia in Pakistan. However, independent fact-checking website Alt News has discovered that the image is not from Pakistan but from a cemetery in India’s Hyderabad city.
False Claims on Social Media
The image was initially shared on Twitter by ex-Muslim Harris Sultan, who claimed that the grave was locked because parents in Pakistan wanted to save their dead daughters from being raped. Numerous media outlets across the border ran the story after Indian news agency Asian News International (ANI) tweeted the image with the same claims.
Alt News Investigation
Alt News screen-recorded the process of finding the graveyard from a mosque and contacted a local social worker to visit and verify the grave’s presence in the cemetery, which he did, providing photographs and video busting the fake news.
Muazzin Muqtar’s Statement
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In the video, the social worker sought a comment from the mosque’s Muazzin Muqtar, who shared facts on the grave. He explained that the padlocked grave was constructed without the permission of the concerned committee. Furthermore, it is located right in front of the entrance, blocking the pathway. The families put the grille there to prevent others from burying any bodies further.
Conclusion
Alt News India confirmed that the “padlock had nothing to do with necrophilia or Pakistan.” Indian news outlets, including the Times of India, NDTV, and Zee News, among others, picked the story from ANI’s syndicated feed, with ANI being the first to spread this fake news in India. It is essential to verify the source of the information before circulating it on social media to prevent false claims from going viral.
