A post is being shared on Facebook with the claim that the Hyderabad city is on high alert as 500+ missing cases were reported in the last 45 days. The post also alerts the women in the city to be careful and reach home early in the nights. The same claim is being shared on Facebook and other social media platforms with various videos and photos. Let’s try to analyze the claim made in the post.
Claim: Hyderabad city is on high alert. 43 women missing cases on this Saturday alone from the city and outskirts. Reasons unknown. Request to all the females to avoid travelling in the nights, alone and deserted areas.
Fact: The DGP of the Telangana State Police condemned all these rumors. He clarified through his official Twitter account that most of the registered missing cases in the city were due to people’s individual problems such as family, love affair, examinations failure, admonishing by parents, etc. Also, the DGP explained that in more than 85 per cent of the cases, the persons have been traced and in the remaining cases, necessary efforts are being undertaken to resolve them swiftly. He urged the citizens not to share the rumors and create panic in the city. He also warned people spreading the rumors that necessary legal action will be taken if not stopped. Hence the claim made in the post is FALSE
In most of the posts on this issue, a reference to an Eenadu article on the missing people is given. So, when searched for any article in Eenadu on this topic, it was found that the newspaper published an article regarding the missing people in the city on 11th June 2019.
In the Eenadu article, two main things can be observed. First, the article gives reasons for the missing cases. One of the primary reason given for the missing cases was love affairs. People are running away from houses with their lovers willingly. But the posts on social media are creating a fear psychosis in the people by not telling the reasons for missing and further asking women to stay safe. The DGP of Telangana has condemned all these rumors by tweeting the reasons for the missing cases on his official Twitter account.
Second, the Eenadu article alleges that the missing cases get a lukewarm response from the police officials. But the DGP through a press release also condemned this allegation by clarifying that 85 per cent of the people in the missing cases reported last year were traced and necessary efforts were being made to trace the remaining people. The DGP through his Twitter account, also, responded to the Eenadu article on 500+ missing cases by tweeting the list containing the information on the status of the missing cases. Also, the Hyderabad City Police Commissioner also tweeted that rumors being spread on social media are fake.
— DGP TELANGANA POLICE (@TelanganaDGP) June 11, 2019
The DGP tweeted asking people not to share these rumors and create panic in the city. He also warned that the necessary legal action will be taken on the persons sharing these rumors. Also, according to the Government of India’s National Crime Records Bureau 2016 data, in 2016, 16134 missing cases were reported in the state of Telangana i.e. a daily average of 44 missing cases. So, the current missing numbers are not alarmingly high from the previous numbers.
To sum it up, Hyderabad city is not on high alert. News on women missing in large numbers is not true.
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