Featured Image: NDTV Journalist Barkha Dutt | Credits: YouTube
Senior NDTV journalist Barkha Dutt, who is also a columnist for the US-based Washington Post, was served with an FIR by the Unnao Police on Sunday (21 February) for spreading fake news in the Unnao Dalit girls’ murder case.
Upon investigation by the police, the murder turned out to be a case of a one-sided love affair.
Barkha Dutt’s news portal Mojo Story and seven others have been charged for spreading fake news in the Unnao Dalit girls’ murder case. The people and organisations named in the FIR have been charged with spreading fake news and rumours with the intention to cause unrest in the society, police claims.
The accused were circulating news that the Dalit girls were raped before being murdered. However, the postmortem had ruled out any kind of sexual violence.
The journalist had also circulated the fake news that the police wanted to rush through the last rites of the victims late at night against the wishes of the families. This claim has been completely disproved as well.
The FIR has been registered under Section 153 of the Indian Penal Code and Section 66 of the IT Act.
The other handles booked in the FIR are @NilimDutta (Nilim Dutta), @janjagranlive (Jan Jagran Live), @SurajKrBauddh (Suraj Kumar Bauddh), @VijayAmbedkarUP (Vijay Ambedkar), @Abhaykumarazad97 (Abhay Kumar Azad), @Rahuldiwkr (Rahul Kumar Diwakar) and @BhimSenaChief (Nawab Satpal Tanwar). An FIR was also filed against the former Member of Parliament and Congress leader Udit Raj for spreading similar fake news.
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