On February 21, Unnao Police registered an FIR against eight Twitter accounts for spreading fake stories about the poisoning of three Dalit girls, where two girls have died while the third remains in hospital. The FIR stated that the mentioned Twitter handles had spread false information that the girls were raped, which was denied in the post mortem reports. These handles further spread the fake information that Unnao Police performed the last rites of the two deceased girls without the family’s consent.
The case has been registered under Section 153 of the Indian Penal Code and Section 66 of the Information Technology Act against The Mojo Story (Barkha Dutt’s news agency), @NilimDutta (Chairman of Unified People’s Movement), @janjagranlive (News agency), @SurajKrBaudh (Spokesperson Azad Samaj Party), @VijayAmbedkarUP (Jai Bhim IT team), @Abhaykumarazad9 (Bhim Army Member), @Rahuldiwkr (Gadge Youth Brigade leader) and @BhimSenaChief (Nawab Satpal Tanwar).
The FIR states that incorrect, misleading information was spread by these social media accounts to create anger among the common people. They had ignored the facts of the case and the post-mortem reports to claimed that the girls were raped and they were cremated without the consent of family members, which is not true, the FIR said.
Uttar Pradesh Fact Check had debunked Barkha Dutt’s tweet
On February 19, the UP government’s Uttar Pradesh Fact Check handle had debunked an alleged fake tweet posted by Barkha Dutt. Unnao Police had said that the tweet claimed police wanted to cremate the girls at night, which was misleading. The family of the girls did the last rites of both girls on their own.
ट्वीट में दावा किया गया कि उन्नाव में मृत बालिकाओं का अंतिम संस्कार पुलिस रात में करना चाहती थी।#InfoUPFactCheck: उन्नाव पुलिस द्वारा अवगत कराया गया कि दोनों बालिकाओं का अंतिम संस्कार परिजनों द्वारा विधिपूर्वक किया गया है। pic.twitter.com/2oG9pYjCVU
— Info Uttar Pradesh Fact Check (@InfoUPFactCheck) February 19, 2021
Additional Superintendent of Police Vinod Kumar Pandey said in his statement that a case had been registered against eight people for spreading misleading and provoking information on social media in connection to the Unnao case.
सोशल मीडिया पर विद्वेषपूर्ण,तथ्यों से परे,भ्रमात्मक एवं अफवाहजनक जानकारियों के प्रसार द्वारा जनभावनाएं भड़काने वालों के विरुद्ध कृत कार्यवाही के संदर्भ में अपर पुलिस अधीक्षक उन्नाव द्वारा दी गई बाइट @Uppolice pic.twitter.com/UMgyi8DJif
— UNNAO POLICE (@unnaopolice) February 21, 2021
Three Dalit girls were found lying unconscious in a field in Baburha village under the Asoha police station of Unnao district in Uttar Pradesh yesterday. Two of them were reportedly declared brought dead by the doctors, while one is in critical condition and is undergoing treatment at the district hospital.
The Unnao Case
On February 19, three girls from the same family were found lying unconscious in a field in Unnao district, Uttar Pradesh. Two of them were declared dead while the eldest one was rushed to the hospital for treatment. According to reports, an initial examination by the police and the doctors suggested that the two girls were poisoned. Security personnel were deployed at the district hospital and around the village. An IG and a DIG rank officer have also reportedly left from Lucknow to take cognisance of the matter.
Reports suggested that the girls had gone to the field to collect fodder for cattle. The areas are owned by the girls’ own families. The victims’ brother Vishal reportedly said that all three girls had gone to the field around 3 pm yesterday to collect fodder. When they did not return by late evening, the families searched for them and found them lying in the field. Two girls were already dead by the time they were found.
UP Police had claimed that they arrested a man named Vinay and a 15-year-old boy in the case. Vinay had allegedly confessed that mixed insecticide in water to target the elder girl as she rejected his advances. However, all three drank the poisoned water. The two younger cousins were found dead while the actual target had survived and currently receiving treatment in hospital.
