A 19-year-old Dalit woman, who was allegedly gang-raped by four upper-caste men in Uttar Pradesh’s Hathras, was cremated in the wee hours of September 30. Family members were locked inside their homes and the victim’s body was burnt without her parents at the site where police formed a human chain to block protesters. In this backdrop, Facebook user Niraj Dhanwal posted an image of UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath where he is purportedly seen watching the cremation of the Hathras victim live on a laptop. The message posted along with the image reads, “इसके लिए 2-2 शब्द जरूर बोलो (Please reserve a few words for this.)” As of this writing, the post amassed over 8,400 shares.

Another Facebook user Lokesh Kumar posted the same image and said, “हाथरस गैंग रेप पिड़िता को युपी की जल्लाद पुलिस वालों ने कैसे जलाया उसकी लाइव वीडियो देखता हुआ एक नाकारा मुख्यमंत्री. (The incompetent Chief Minister watching the live video of Hathras gang-rape victim being cremated by UP’s cruel policemen.)” The post has been shared over 400 times so far. The image is also being shared on Twitter with the same claim.

Fact-check

A simple reverse search reveals that the picture has been morphed. The original photograph of CM Yogi Adityanath was tweeted by news agency ANI on Septemeber 30. In the photo, he was speaking to the father of the Hathras victim over a video call. To protect the identity of the family, the face of the father was blurred in the image. According to another tweet by ANI, after speaking to the family, the CM announced that ex gratia of Rs 25 lakh and a house will be given to the family of the victim along with a government job to one family member.

India Today journalist Tanushree Pandey had clicked a picture of the Hathras victim’s body being cremated in the dead of the night early September 30. The picture superimposed on the laptop’s screen is the same one clicked by the journalist.

A comparison of the viral edited image and the original photo of CM Adityanath is posted below.

This image was earlier fact-checked by India Today, The Quint and Boom.

A photo of CM Adityanath speaking with Hathras victim’s family was edited and shared with the claim that he watched the cremation of the victim’s body ‘live’.

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