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Fake posts claiming death of a DU professor go viral; FIR registered
A woman assistant professor of Delhi University(DU), living in Vaishali, approached the Ghaziabad Police on Monday evening and submitted her complaint regarding
A woman assistant professor of Delhi University(DU), living in Vaishali, approached the Ghaziabad Police on Monday evening and submitted her complaint regarding an alleged case of cyber crime. In her complaint, she alleged that her social media account was hacked and that her profile photograph was photoshopped and garlanded. Several social media posts, using her photoshopped image, went viral, claiming that she died as a “corona warrior” while treating patients in Indore, Madhya Pradesh.
The woman claimed that her family in Ghaziabad is in a state of mental distress as they have been receiving hundreds of calls since the posts became viral. In one of the posts, the victim, Vandana Tiwari’s picture was seen garlanded and the accompanying text mentioned that she left behind a 3-year-old child.
“Initially my sister in Nepal came across one of the posts and she called me on April 10. I was shocked to see that the post has gone viral over different social media platforms. Since then, I have been receiving calls from various acquaintances,” said Tiwari, who is a consultant assistant professor of Sanskrit in DU.
She also said that she is now facing a tough time in proving that she is alive and that the post is not related to her in any way. Pradeep Tiwari, her husband, who is a mediaperson, said that ever since the posts become viral the family is trying to find the real culprit behind the incident.
“We came across a profile of a person who first shared the post. We contacted him through an online messenger and he apologised and removed the post. He even sent messages to his group members, saying that the post was fake. By that time, however, individuals, groups and politicians have shared the posts widely across various social media platforms,” Pradeep Tiwari, said.
“The post with a garlanded picture of my wife mentioned that Dr Vandana Tiwari from Jain Colony, Indore, has left behind a three-year-old child. A friend of mine called me up from Gujarat and told us to be cautious. He said that some mischievous elements might take advantage of such posts and demand financial help from public. Finally, we approached the Indirapuram Police for help and submitted a written complaint,” he added.
The officials of the Ghaziabad police said that they have registered a first information report(FIR) under the provisions of the IT Act, Section 505 (statements conducing to public mischief) of the Indian Penal Code(IPC) and relevant sections of the Disaster Management Act.
“The investigation is on. We have also approached social media companies and the posts will soon be removed,” said Anshu Jain, circle officer, Indirapuram.
The family of the victim added that they also came across a viral post of a pharmacist with the same name, who had died in March in Madhya Pradesh, .
When contacted on the issue of pharmacist Dr Vandana Tiwari, police officials from Shivpuri, Madhya Pradesh, said that Tiwari was pharmacist, but was not involved in coronavirus treatment. “She was a pharmacist with Shivpuri Medical College and had developed some health complications after which her husband left with her for their home town in Gwalior on March 31. There, she was treated at a hospital but died on April 7 owing to brain haemorrhage,” said Rajesh Singh Chandel, superintendent of police of Shivpuri.
After the death of pharmacist Vandana Tiwari, several social media posts went viral in which a woman was shown lying in an ICU ward of a hospital. The posts mentioned that the woman had gone to Uttar Pradesh for a coronavirus test but was attacked by a mob after which she died.
The Uttar Pradesh Police, through its twitter handle @Uppolice, on April 9, refuted this post, stating that the death of Vandana Tiwari was related to Madhya Pradesh and had no connection with UP. The cyber cell of the Agra police was also directed to take action.
