Fact Check: Did Rana Ayyub defend minor rapists?
A screenshot of a tweet apparently by a media organization is widely being shared on social media. Users claim that Rana Ayyub, a well-known journalist, had defended the minor rapists.
By Tejal Sinha Published on 28 April 2022 12:30 PM GMT
Hyderabad: A screenshot of a tweet apparently by a media organization is widely being shared on social media. Users claim that Rana Ayyub, a well-known journalist, had defended the minor rapists.
The text in the screenshot read: "Minor child rapists are also human, do they have no human rights? This Hindutva Government is bringing ordinance for death to child rapists just to hang Muslims in large numbers. Muslims aren't safe in India anymore."
The post is viral on Facebook and can be viewed here.
Fact Check
The claim is False.
NewsMeter began its investigation by performing a keyword search about Rana Ayyub making any such statements. However, we could not find any relevant reports published by any mainstream media organizations.
Meanwhile, we found a tweet by Rana Ayyub on her verified Twitter handle on June 10, 2019. She had shared a similar screenshot of the tweet and clarified the screenshot to be a hoax.
She further tweeted, "This fake photo-shopped tweet that shows me advocating child rapists in the name of Islam is being circulated yet again all over social media. From the likes of Ashok Pandit to the entire right-wing ecosystem is sharing this tweet. How sick are you guys."
We then noticed that the viral screenshot claimed to be the Twitter handle of Republic TV. We searched for the official Twitter handle of the media organization on Twitter.
We found that the handle on the viral screenshot did not have any blue tick, indicating that it is not a verified handle of Republic TV. Further, we compared the official Twitter handle of Republic with the one seen in the image and found certain discrepancies. The official handle of Republic media is a verified account and the username is '@republic'.
Hence, it is therefore evident that the claim is False. Rana Ayyub neither made the statement nor did Republic Media Network tweet any such statement.
