Ground report: Uncovering the truth behind Hyderabad’s grille-covered grave
Muzzafar, second son of the deceased who found that the waste material was spoiling the location, decided to secure his mother’s grave with a grille
By Nikisha Uddagiri Published on 1 May 2023 9:44 AM GMT
Hyderabad: A photo of a padlocked grave has given rise to much misinformation and debate in India and Pakistan with several people claiming that graves in Pakistan are being locked to prevent necrophilia.
Alt News, an India-based independent fact-checking website, debunked the claim and found that the grave is located in the Madannapet area of Hyderabad.
The image was initially shared on Twitter by Harris Sultan, a self-proclaimed atheist, who claimed that the grave was locked as parents in Pakistan wanted to save their dead daughters from being raped. His tweet slamming Pakistani society was also picked by Indian news portals.
However, there is more to the picture than just debunking the claim.
Ground report
When NewsMeter visited the graveyard in Darab Jung Colony in Madannapet in Hyderabad’s Saidabad, it was found that the grave was of 65-year-old Zaheen Begum who died in July 2020. This grave is located at the entrance, resulting in many stepping on the grave. Thus, the family members installed a grille in October 2020.
The story behind the grille
“This is my mother’s grave, and we had to put up a grille and lock it because many people are stepping on the grave to enter the burial ground. Also, some of them are throwing waste materials, including sanitary napkins, into the graveyard. Unfortunately, it is our Muslim community who throw garbage here,” Mir-Muzzafar Hashmi, the second son of Zaheen Begum, told NewsMeter.
He also said that people used to open the grille and throw waste, which is why he had to lock the grille.
Muzzafar, who found that the waste material was spoiling the location, decided to secure his mother’s grave with a grille. He had initially planned to build a fence but as it would block the entry into the burial ground, he constructed a grille.
Shared by many media
Several major news outlets published ANI’s report from their syndicated feed, The Times of India being one of them. Other media outlets, including Mirror Now, The Print, India Today, Times Now, DNA India, ABP News, and Firstpost, used the same image in their reports. Most of these stories were from the syndicated feed of ANI.
