Violence broke out during the last procession of Goddess Durga's idol in Bahraich, Uttar Pradesh on 13 October.
A youth called Ram Gopal Mishra was killed in this violence. Many claims were made on news channels about Mishra being tortured before being killed.
What are the viral claims? In the viral claim, it is said that Mishra was allegedly tortured before getting shot in the following manner:
His toenails were pulled out.
He was attacked with a sharp object near his eyes.
His head and hand were attacked with a sharp weapon.
Electric shocks were also given to Mishra.
Who made these claims?: News outlets such as Aaj Tak anchor Sudhir Chaudhary, ABP News anchor Chitra Tripathi, right-wing news outlet Sudarshan News as well as YouTuber Ajit Bharti shared this claim.
(Archives of other claims can be viewed here and here.)
Are these claims true? No, these claims are misleading.
We got the deceased's postmortem report checked by a forensic expert, who confirmed to us that the claims of torture were not mentioned in the report.
Uttar Pradesh (UP) police and Bahraich Chief Medical Officer (CMO) have also denied these claims and appealed the public not to spread fake news.
What we found: The Quint accessed the postmortem report of the deceased and got it checked by a forensic expert who spoke to us on the condition of anonymity. The expert told us the following.
The claim about toenails being pulled out is false. There are burn injuries on the toe due to firearms (bullet pellets). However, there is no confirmation of nails being pulled out.
There is no evidence of an attack being made with a sharp object near the eyes. However, the injury could possibly be caused by a bullet.
The reason for the injury on the head is that the deceased fell unconscious on the ground after being shot. It is not that the head was hit by any heavy object, as claimed.
There is no evidence of electric shocks in the postmortem report. The expert told us that the cause of death was "hemorrhagic shock."
Hemorrhagic shock is a condition in which the blood flow to body tissues is reduced, due to which there is not enough oxygen supply and nutrients required for normal cellular function. Whenever the demand for oxygen in a cell exceeds the supply, both the cell and the organism are in a state of shock.
The actual number of pellet marks on the deceased's body was not confirmed in the postmortem report.
What did Bahraich Police say? : We checked the X (formerly Twitter) handle of Bahraich Police and found a post which clarified that these viral claims are misleading.
Speaking to the media, Bahraich Superintendent of Police (SP) Vrinda Shukla said, "According to the postmortem, the deceased died due to a bullet injury, other things being told are misleading, which are not confirmed by the postmortem."
What did Bahraich CMO say? CMO Sanjay Kumar said, "He died due to excessive bleeding after being hit by 25-30 pellets. There is a burn injury near the toes on his foot, nothing more than that."
Conclusion: Many misleading and false claims are being shared on social media platforms and by news channels regarding Ram Gopal Mishra's postmortem report in Bahraich.
(Not convinced of a post or information you came across online and want it verified? Send us the details on WhatsApp at 9540511818 , or e-mail it to us at webqoof@thequint.com and we'll fact-check it for you. You can also read all our fact-checked stories here.)
(At The Quint, we question everything. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member today.)