Fact Check: Congress leaders share old video of BJP leader arrested for raping his daughter
By Newsmeter Network Published on 2 Sep 2020 5:09 AM GMT
Hyderabad: Bhai Jagtap, an Indian politician and member of the Indian National Congress posted a short news clip about an FIR filed against a BJP leader for allegedly raping his daughter. He claimed that the incident took place after the initiative 'Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao' was launched.
He tweeted, "BJP leader Ashok Taneja was raping his 21-year-old daughter for the last six years...The day has come when we have to protect our daughters from the people who started the false slogan of Beti Bachao. They do not even leave their daughters, how will they save the daughters of others 😡 https://t.co/OkWctN5zNr".
Zakiya Khan, the national secretary and social media in-charge of the Congress, also tweeted the same video and took a dig at Prime Minister Narendra Modi's 'Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao' initiative. According to the video, BJP leader Ashok Taneja from Amritsar allegedly raped his daughter for eight years.
The claim archives can be found here and here.
FACT CHECK:
The claim made by the Congress leaders that the incident took place after the 'Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao' initiative was launched is FALSE.
NewsMeter found a video uploaded by NDTV on YouTube. The clip from the tweet is a part of the YouTube video that was posted on 27 March 2009. It is titled, "BJP leader arrested for raping daughter".
The description reads, "A local BJP leader has been arrested for allegedly raping his daughter for the last seven years. Police said BJP General Secretary of Anjala town Ashok Taneja was arrested last night on the basis of a complaint lodged by his daughter."
A news report by Hindustan Times published in 2009 also claims the same and states, "For eight years, a girl from Anjala in Punjab said her father raped her. The 21-year-old broke her silence after watching the TV coverage of the recent Mumbai rape-incest case. The girl's father, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Ashok Taneja, was arrested on Thursday."
Meanwhile, the 'Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao' initiative was launched in January 2015, six years after the incident.
While it is true that BJP leader Ashok Taneja was arrested for raping his daughter, the claims made by Congress leaders that the incident took place after the 'Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao' initiative was launched is FALSE.
