Nude Dalit Protest Passed off as Atrocity Against Christians

The fake Facebook post says that a Christian pastor and his wife were humiliated by Indians in UP.

A Facebook page by the name 'Breaking News BN’ had on Wednesday, 14 February, shared a post detailing how a Christian pastor and his wife were humiliated by Indians in Uttar Pradesh, as they were stripped naked and made to "march around town as punishment.” The post is also accompanied by a picture of a man and a woman standing naked, with the latter having a baby around her arms.

The post, which has garnered more than 1,27,000 shares and over 5,000 comments, is fake.

The picture used in the post surfaced back in October 2015, and, in fact, shows a Dalit family allegedly stripping in protest when the police refused to register an FIR of a robbery in Uttar Pradesh's Dankaur.

There are also typos in the post – Uttar Pradesh spelt as ‘Utter Pradesh’, "they were make naked.” The post has not been taken down till this story was published.

BREAKING NEWS... Please pray for the Christian Pastor and his wife, being humiliated by Indians in Utter Pradesh -India, for preaching the Gospel, they were make naked and March around town as punishment. Lord have Mercy.....Can you please pass on this news as fast as possible so that a lot of people can pray for them (sic).

Fake Facebook post by ‘Breaking News BN’

Notably, there were also conflicting versions of the real incident involving the Dalit family. While some reports suggested that it was the Dalits who had stripped themselves in protest, others indicated that it was police personnel who had stripped and humiliated them.

Nevertheless, the fake post by 'Breaking News BN’ got unprecedented traction on Facebook, with many users being taken in by their post.

(The Quint, in association with BitGiving, has launched a crowdfunding campaign for an 8-month-old who was raped in Delhi on 28 January 2018. The baby girl, who we will refer to as 'Chhutki', was allegedly raped by her 28-year-old cousin when her parents were away. She has been discharged from AIIMS hospital after undergoing three surgeries, but needs more medical treatment in order to heal completely. Her parents hail from a low-income group and have stopped going to work so that they can take care of the baby. You can help cover Chhutki's medical expenses and secure her future. Every little bit counts. Click here to donate.)