Authors
Zakariya has an experience of working for Magazines, Newspapers and News Portals. Before joining Newschecker, he was working with Network18’s Urdu channel. Zakariya completed his post-graduation in Mass Communication & Journalism from Lucknow University.
Vasudha noticed the growing problem of mis/disinformation online after studying New Media at ACJ in Chennai and became interested in separating facts from fiction. She is interested in learning how global issues affect individuals on a micro level. Before joining Newschecker’s English team, she was working with Latestly.
Claim
Parents of deceased girl in Pakistan padlock her grave to prevent the corpse from being raped.
Fact
Geolocation tools, and conversations with locals, confirmed that the photograph is from a graveyard in India’s Hyderabad. The necrophilia narrative around the viral image is incorrect.
An image of a grave covered with a locked iron gate has gone viral on social media platforms. Users sharing the image alleged that it shows a grave from Pakistan, while adding that the parents of the deceased girl padlocked her grave to prevent the corpse from being raped. Multiple news outlets, including WION, ABP, OpIndia Hindi and news agency ANI, also made the claim, raising concerns over necrophilia in Pakistan. Newschecker found the claim to be untrue.
Such posts can be seen here, here and here.
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Fact Check/Verification
We skimmed through the comment sections of various posts carrying the viral picture and noticed users pointing out that the image actually shows a grave from India’s Hyderabad, and not Pakistan.
Further, we found a Facebook post by @jaleel.raja, dated April 30, 2023, carrying two images of the viral padlocked grave. The post further stated that the images were captured near the Masjid Salar-e-Malik in Darab Jan Colony, Madnapet.
Newschecker reached out to Jaleel, who told us that he found social media users sharing the image of the padlocked graveyard, claiming it to be from Pakistan. Following which, he reached the graveyard in India’s Hyderabad at 2am, and clicked the pictures that he later shared on Facebook to clarify the whole issue.
We could also ascertain the exact location of Hyderabad’s graveyard, where the viral picture was taken, on Google Earth.
Following this, Newschecker reached out to the owner of Jahangir Dairy, a shop located nearby the graveyard in Telangana’s Hyderabad, who confirmed to us that the viral picture is indeed from the cemetery in his neighbourhood.
We reached out to several other people from the locality who corroborated that the viral image is actually from a graveyard in India’s Hyderabad. Adding that the grave seen in the viral picture is at the cemetery’s entrance. It was locked so that no one steps on it, or builds another grave on the top without permission.
A Facebook post by @Deccan24Hyderabad, dated May 1, 2023, carried a video of the family members of the deceased buried in the padlocked grave explaining their reasons for putting up the iron gate and lock. A male family member of the deceased is heard saying that the lock was put in place as people used to throw garbage and other filthy objects at the grave.
Conclusion
An image of a padlocked grave in India’s Hyderabad shared with a false narrative to show parents locking graves of their daughters in Pakistan so that their corpses are not raped.
Result: False
Sources
Facebook Post By @jaleel.raja, Dated April 30, 2023
Google Earth
Facebook Post By @Deccan24Hyderabad, Dated May 1, 2023
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Authors
Zakariya has an experience of working for Magazines, Newspapers and News Portals. Before joining Newschecker, he was working with Network18’s Urdu channel. Zakariya completed his post-graduation in Mass Communication & Journalism from Lucknow University.
Vasudha noticed the growing problem of mis/disinformation online after studying New Media at ACJ in Chennai and became interested in separating facts from fiction. She is interested in learning how global issues affect individuals on a micro level. Before joining Newschecker’s English team, she was working with Latestly.
