“जिस उम्र में लोग बृद्धा पेंशन लेते है उस उम्र में ये आँटी कौन सा ज्ञान ले रही है ,😂😂😂#JNU (In the age when people take an old-age pension, what knowledge is the aunty attaining -translated)”, tweeted a user along with an image of a woman who seems to be forcefully escorted by the police. Another handle @shuklapinku posted the same image with a message, “ई कवन पढ़ाई पढ़े ली JNU में ..!😊 (What is she studying in JNU -translated)”. These two tweets have garnered close to 1000 retweets so far.

A few more people on Twitter and Facebook shared the image with a similar narrative. (1, 2, 3, 4)

Unrelated image from Hyderabad

A Google reverse image search of the image revealed that the image is not related to the JNU students’ protest. “Police arrests a woman who was participating in a protest demanding for minimum wage, at labour Commissioner Office in Hyderabad”, reads the caption of the image published by Outlook. According to the media outlet, this is an image by PTI on September 19, 2017.

Image of CPI leader

The other image of an elderly woman is from a protest reportedly led by women’s rights activists and lawyers outside the Supreme Court after a clean chit was given to the former Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi on allegations of sexual harassment raised against him in May 2019. Alt News had earlier fact-checked the claim and found that the woman in the picture is a CPI leader named Annie Raja.

In conclusion, old and unrelated photographs of elderly women who are escorted by police personnel are being shared as of JNU students protesting fee hike. Earlier this week, Alt News has debunked(1, 2) images of JNU students who were misidentified as elderly students to discredit their protest against fee hike.

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About the Author

Jignesh is a writer and researcher at Alt News. He has a knack for visual investigation with a major interest in fact-checking videos and images. He has completed his Masters in Journalism from Gujarat University.