A 32-year-old woman working as a house help for a real estate business owner was arrested on October 16 for allegedly using her urine for cooking. The Ghaziabad police registered an FIR against the house-help on October 15 based on a complaint filed by the house owners.
Several media outlets reported the incident and it is being widely shared on social media where the incident is being dubbed as “urine jihad”. The right-wing and the mainstream media has often used the term “jihad” in cases where the accused is from the Muslim community. In the past, terms like “love jihad” and “thook (spit) jihad” have been used to float conspiracy theories targeting the Muslim community.
India TV (@indiatvnews) tweeted a video of the maid which purportedly depicts her urinating on cooking vessels with a caption in Hindi that can be translated as: “In Ghaziabad’s Crossing Republic Society, an incident of “urine jihad” has come to light. The complainant has alleged that a maid was mixing urine into the flour while making rotis, which resulted in liver failure for the entire family.” (Archive)
गाजियाबाद के क्रॉसिंग रिपबल्कि सोसाइटी में यूरिन जिहाद का मामला सामने आया है..शिकायतकर्ता ने आरोप लगाया है कि नौकरानी आटे में पेशाब मिलाकर रोटियां बनाती थी जिससे पूरे परिवार का लीवर फेल हो गया। #Ghaziabad #Urine #Food #Maid #Crime #UPPolice pic.twitter.com/405hdhjYTS
— India TV (@indiatvnews) October 16, 2024
The same video with the caption calling the incident ‘urine jihad’ was posted by India TV on Facebook and Instagram.
News outlet Hindustan initially published a report on the incident featuring a representative image of a woman in a hijab and burkha. Later, they replaced the image with a screengrab from the viral video.
The name of the accused maid who was caught urinating in the food is Reena Devi. But you @Live_Hindustan used an image of a woman with Hijabi. https://t.co/PHrecOmtVl pic.twitter.com/q5JDCJa9Al
— Mohammed Zubair (@zoo_bear) October 16, 2024
Premium subscribed X user Deepak Sharma (@SonOfBharat7) who often uses the platform to spread communal misinformation shared the above-mentioned viral video of the house-help with the following caption: “A maid used to come to cook at the house. She was mixing urine into food items… The entire family fell ill, and a test revealed the presence of urine. When the owner secretly installed a camera, it was discovered that the cook was mixing her urine into the food… (sic) There’s no need to mention who the cook is”, insinuating that the cook is from a certain community. (Archive)
घर पे आती थी खाना बनाने वाली..
खाने पीने की चीज़ों में मिलाती थी पेशाब…
पूरा घर बीमार हुआ तोटेस्ट में पेशाब मिला..कैमरा छुपाकर लगाया ज़ब मालकिन ने तों पता चला कि खाना बनाने वाली मिला रही थी खाने पीने की चीज़ों में अपना पेशाब…
खाना बनाने वाली कौन है ये बताने की जरूरत नहीं pic.twitter.com/wbSTndGcA2
— Deepak Sharma (@SonOfBharat7) October 16, 2024
Fact Check
On running a relevant keyword search we found several reports which mentioned the name of the house-help who has been accused of urinating into the food. A report by the India Today said that the woman has been identified as Reena. It also mentioned that Reena admitted to urinating in a cooking vessel and mixing it with the flour to make rotis and that she did it to ‘take revenge against her employers who used to keep a close watch on her and often shouted at her for small mistakes’. The Ghaziabad police have registered a case against Reena under relevant sections of the Bharatiya Nyay Sanhita (BNS) and a probe has been launched to check if the accused has a criminal history.
Alt News reached out to ACP Wave City Lipi Nagayach who said that the case is in no way communal and that both the accused and the complainants are Hindu. She also mentioned that the house helper’s name is ‘Reena Kumari’ and mentioned that the accused’s husband’s name is Pramod.
We also accessed the FIR registered in the case. It mentions the accused’s name as ‘Reena’ and her husband’s name as ‘Pramod Kumar’.
Hence, from the above findings, it is clear that there is no communal angle in the above incident and India TV falsely reported it as a communal matter and even termed it as ‘urine jihad’. The accused in this case is a Hindu woman. India TV later published a fact-check refuting the communal claims surrounding the incident but did not remove their own tweet labeling it as ‘urine jihad.’
Independent journalism that speaks truth to power and is free of corporate and political control is possible only when people start contributing towards the same. Please consider donating towards this endeavour to fight fake news and misinformation.