Authors
Kushel HM is a mechanical engineer-turned-journalist, who loves all things football, tennis and films. He was with the news desk at the Hindustan Times, Mumbai, before joining Newschecker.
An image of a clean-shaven and bald Prime Minister Narendra Modi has gone viral with social media users claiming that the PM tonsured his head as per Hindu rituals following the death of his mother, Heeraben, aged 99, on December 30, 2022.
Archived versions of the tweets can be seen here and here.
Fact check
Newschecker ran a reverse image search of the viral picture, which led us to a news report from Zee Business.
A comparison of both the pictures reveals that the viral image is an altered one.
Further investigation led us to multiple reports, seen here and here, showing the original picture. We later learnt that the edited picture has been circulating on the internet for the past two years. It has been shared many times before on Reddit and other social media platforms.
Also, on December 31, 2022, the PM posted two photos on Twitter of his meeting with Air Marshal PV Iyer (Retd), where it is clearly seen that he has not shaved his head.
Conclusion
Newschecker found that the viral photo of PM Narendra Modi with a tonsured head and no beard is a doctored image.
Result: Altered Media
Sources
Zee Business report, April 30, 2018
Economic Times report, December 16, 2017
(This fact check was originally done for Newschecker Hindi by Arjun Deodia)
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Authors
Kushel HM is a mechanical engineer-turned-journalist, who loves all things football, tennis and films. He was with the news desk at the Hindustan Times, Mumbai, before joining Newschecker.
