A screenshot of a purported tweet made by ‘BBC News Hindi’ channel is being shared on social media claiming that two Pakistani boys were gang raped in a washroom after the Pakistan vs. Afghanistan cricket match on 07 September 2022. This purported tweet reported that the two boys were in critical condition and that 23 Pathans were arrested based on the CCTV footage. Let’s verify the claim made in the post
Claim: ‘BBC News Hindi’ tweet reporting gangrape of two Pakistani boys after the PAK vs AFG cricket match in Asia Cup 2022.
Fact: The purported ‘BBC News Hindi’ tweet shared in the post is a morphed one. ‘BBC News Hindi’ did not make any such tweet on their official Twitter handle. Also, there are no news reports on the internet about the alleged gangrape of two Pakistani boys after the Pakistan vs. Afghanistan cricket match on 07 September 2022 in Asia Cup 2022. Hence, the claim made in the post is FALSE.
When we searched to check whether ‘BBC News Hindi’ had made any such tweet on 08 September 2022 as shown in the post, we could not find any such tweet on the official Twitter handle of ‘BBC News Hindi’. On comparing a normal tweet published by ‘BBC News Hindi’ with the screenshot of the tweet shared in the post, we could clearly find the difference in time and date stamps in both these tweets. Also, the grammatical errors in the tweet confirm that the screenshot of the tweet shared in the post is a morphed one.
On 08 September 2022, ‘BBC News Hindi’ published a tweet thread stating that in the past few days, many fake tweets or posts are being shared on social media in the name of BBC Hindi. BBC News Hindi informed the public and media to check their official social media handles if they find any such fake posts attributed to BBC Hindi. Lately, ‘BBC News Hindi’ published a few clarification tweets related to similar fake tweets attributed to ‘BBC News Hindi’. They can be seen here and here.
A ‘BBC Hindi’ official confirmed to ‘Boom Live’ that ‘BBC News Hindi’ had not made any such tweet on their official Twitter media handle.
After Pakistan vs. Afghanistan cricket match on 07 September 2022 in Asia Cup 2022, clashes broke out between the Afghanistan and Pakistan fans in the Sharjah Cricket Stadium. Following Pakistan’s one-wicket win over Afghanistan, fans of both teams were seen fighting with chairs in the stadium. A few news articles that reported the clash between Afghanistan and Pakistan fans after the Asia Cup 2022 match, on 07 September 2022, can be read here and here. But, it is nowhere reported that two Pakistani boys were gang-raped after the PAK vs. AFG match on 07 September 2022.
To sum it up, this purported tweet of ‘BBC News Hindi’ reporting gangrape of two Pakistani boys after the PAK vs AFG match in Asia Cup 2022 is fake.
