No, accused in Karnataka temple poisoning case is not Christian

Over 15 people were killed in an incident of food poisoning at a temple in Chamarajanagar in Karnataka on December 17. The source of the poison was the prasada offered to the devotees of the temple. A section of right-wing supporters on social media have claimed that one of the accused in the case, Ambika is actually Sylvia Ambika and that she is a Christian.

The lady who poisoned the devotees in the Maramma temple leading to death of 15 people and several sick, is not just Ambika but Sylvia Ambika, a crypto Christian. This fact has been hidden by the media so far and has just been revealed! From nagesh segal in fb

— meena das narayan (@MeenaDasNarayan) December 22, 2018

The above tweet is by Meena Das Narayan, who is a journalist and film maker. Narayan is followed on Twitter by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Her tweet of December 22 has been retweeted over 2700 times. Narayan in her tweet claims that the fact that Ambika is a Christian “has been hidden by the media so far”.

A seer has been arrested by the police, who according to reports, hatched a conspiracy with his lover, Ambika. Ambika had allegedly procured the pesticide that was used as poison.

The claim that she is a Christian has been shared on Facebook as well.

ACCUSED NOT A CHRISTIAN

In a conversation with Alt News, Dharmendra Kumar Meena, Superintendent of Police, Chamarajanagar District stated that this claim is baseless and false. “This is completely fake. Ambika is a distant relative of the seer and both belong to the same village and the same community. We will issue a clarification through our social media handles.”

A communal angle was given to a criminal incident, by falsely and maliciously claiming that the accused is from the Christian community, with the objective of fomenting animosity along religious lines.