A padlocked grave image that went viral on social media last week was inaccurately linked to the issue of rape and necrophilia in Pakistan by various Indian news outlets.
Harris Sultan, an ex-Muslim, initially shared the image on Twitter, alleging that parents in Pakistan locked their daughters’ graves to protect them from being raped. Indian news agency Asian News International (ANI) tweeted the image with a similar claim in their story, “Pakistani parents lock daughters’ graves to avoid rape.”
Several Indian media outlets, including Times of India, NDTV, Zee News, Hindustan Times, and others, ran the story without verifying its authenticity, crediting ANI as their source. However, independent fact-checking Alt News debunked the misreporting after thoroughly investigating the viral image.
Alt News discovered that the grave was not in Pakistan but in a cemetery in Hyderabad, India. They used Google Street View to locate the cemetery and contacted a local social worker, a resident of the area, to visit the site and verify the grave’s presence. The social worker provided photographs and videos to confirm the findings.
Additionally, the social worker obtained a comment from the mosque’s Muazzin, Muqtar, who clarified the facts about the grave. Muqtar revealed that the padlocked grave, which was about 1.5 to 2 years old, had been constructed without the permission of the concerned committee. The grave’s location blocked the entrance, and the issue was discussed among the mosque’s committee members for eight days. Muqtar also explained that the families placed the grille there to prevent further burials in the area.
As a result, Alt News exposed the fake news propagated by various Indian media outlets, shedding light on verifying information before reporting.
