BHU unrest: After police lathicharge, many circulate fake image of injured girl not related to incident

After a students’ protest at Banaras Hindu University (BHU) against the increasing incidents of eve-teasing inside the campus turned violent on Saturday night, scores of images were circulated on social media as the outrage spread.

Several female students were injured when the police allegedly used force to remove protesters from outside the vice-chancellor’s residence. One such image of an injured girl – that was circulated by several politicians, journalists to highlight the lack of women’s safety under the BJP government – as it turns out was fake.

Mrinal Pandey, Prashant bhushan and Sanjay Singh all sharing one fake image about Lathi charge in BHU . Is this planned? Is this legal? pic.twitter.com/NNAZimgwRJ

— Kapil Mishra (@KapilMishra_IND) September 24, 2017

As has become somewhat of a norm on social media, people shared the image without verifying the source and claimed that the girl was a student at the university. The image was shared on Twitter by several prominent names like Prashant Bhushan, Ashok Gehlot, Mrinal Pandey, Swati Chaturvedi and Sanjay Singh to name a few. According to an AltNews report, the image in question is from an incident in Lakhimpur Khiri, where a girl was attacked by a stalker. The image was published by Jagran and News 18.

Image on the left is being shared as a victim of lathi-charge in BHU. In reality, she was attacked reportedly because of a one-sided affair. pic.twitter.com/t6nNf1ecC4

— Alt News (@AltNews) September 24, 2017

After it was revealed that the image was fake, many of those who had tweeted issued clarifications and apologies.

You are right.My mistake.It was put up by BHU buzz,which has since admitted it's mistake. However the brutal lathi charge injured many girls https://t.co/X3lqaXSmav

— Prashant Bhushan (@pbhushan1) September 24, 2017

Only the photo was pointed out by some to be fake, and has since been deleted.The news was correct and is still making headlines everywhere. https://t.co/gn5tJxRCgj

— Mrinal Pande (@MrinalPande1) September 24, 2017

Am not sure of the veracity of this image. Was sent by a journalist friend. https://t.co/ZamrRgVxF3

— Swati Chaturvedi (@bainjal) September 24, 2017

A number of students, including women, and two journalists were injured in the lathicharge by the police during the protest. The violence erupted after some students, protesting against the incident on Thursday, wanted to meet the varsity’s vice chancellor at his residence. Security guards of the university stopped the students and informed the police, according to university sources. A BHU spokesperson had said that some students wanted to “forcibly” enter the V-C’s residence but they were stopped by the BHU security guards.

Subsequently, there was stone pelting by “outsiders” who had joined the students, he said. The police baton charged the students in a bid to disperse them. A number of students, including women, and two journalists were injured in the lathicharge. The police sources said some of its personnel were injured in the clashes during which the students allegedly indulged in arson.

The alleged eve-teasing incident had occurred on Thursday night after which the students started the protest. BHU students said that they undertook the protest near the university’s main gate against rising incidents of alleged eve-teasing on the campus.

A woman student of the Arts Faculty was allegedly harassed by three motorcycle-borne men inside the campus while she was returning to her hostel, triggering the dharna. According to the complainant, the men abused her and fled when she resisted their attempts.

With inputs from PTI