Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) campus was the site of violence in the evening of Sunday, 5 January, as masked men armed with sticks attacked students and teachers and damaged public property, prompting the administration to call the police.
At least 18 people were injured and admitted to the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS). The Left-controlled JNUSU and the right-wing ABVP blamed each other for the violence that continued for nearly two hours.
Catch the live updates of JNU unrest here.
CLAIM
Now, ABVP member Ashish Chauhan has shared images of a JNU student claiming that he is Students' Federation of India (SFI) leader Soori who was “brutally injured” when he was in Delhi, but within 24 hours, he reached Trivandrum, Kerala, and was all healed.
The collage shared by Chauhan shows two pictures of Soori with bandages on his forehead and arms, while the third image shows no dressing or wound of any kind.
The official Twitter handle of ABVP also shared the images with a similar narrative.
Filmmaker Ashoke Pandit also shared the image with the narrative that he flew from the ICU to Kerala within 24 hours. “His stitches were removed. His wounds healed in 24 hours,” the tweet mentioned.
Several social media users have shared the images of Facebook with similar claims.
TRUE OR FALSE?
The claim shared with the images is misleading. Firstly, the claim that Soori was admitted to the ICU is false. He was never admitted to the ICU of the AIIMS Trauma Centre, New Delhi, but only to its casualty ward. He was discharged the same day of the attack ie: Sunday, 5 January.
The Quint got in touch with hospital sources at AIIMS who corroborated these details. We also accessed Soori's medical report, which was issued by the Trauma Centre.
Secondly, there is no truth to the claim that Soori’s wounds ‘healed’ within 24 hours, as we have accessed pictures of stitches on his head. Further, in a Facebook Live which was aired by regional news channel Mathrubhumi News that showed Soori addressing the media on his arrival at the Kerala airport, the stitches on the back of his head are clearly visible at 10:40 minutes.
WHAT WE FOUND OUT
The Quint reached out to Soori Krishnan, who told us that he was never admitted in the ICU of the AIIMS Trauma Centre.
“I was not admitted in ICU. I was taken to casualty at AIIMS trauma centre, I got three scans done, namely a CT scan, an ultrasound, and an X-ray.”Soori Krishnan, JNU student
He also gave us the medical report, which lists the nature of his injuries.
WHY DID HE FLY TO KERALA?
While it’s true that Soori flew to Kerala the next day ie: on Monday, he said that he did that only because he felt “threatened” in Delhi.
“I felt threatened there [JNU], so I went to my relative’s place and from there, I went to the airport and took a flight at 3:30 pm because it was delayed and reached Kerala at 7 pm. The attack happened on 5 January and I got discharged on 5th itself. The travel happened on 6 January.”Soori Krishnan, JNU Student
WHAT HAPPENED TO THE DRESSING?
Soori told The Quint that the dressing on his forehead was removed by the doctors and he was told to not cover his head.
“I had a covering on the top of my head which the doctors removed and said that I don’t need to cover my head anymore. I didn’t get enough time to buy the sling for my hand and media was waiting for me at the airport, hence you do not see any bandage on my hand.”Soori Krishnan, JNU student
Further, he denied the claims that his stitches have been removed. He shared the pictures of his head with stitches still being there.
Photo showing stitches on Soori’s head.
(Photo Courtesy: Soori Krishnan)
To confirm this, The Quint also got in touch with the camperaperson of a regional news channel who was present when Soori was addressing the media at the Kerala airport. He told us that there were stitches on Soori’s head and a minor injury on his hand.
“There were some stitches on his head. There was no kind of dressing on his hands, but there was a minor injury.”Cameraperson, regional news channel
JNU student Soori was never admitted to ICU at AIIMS, nor did he make a miraculous recovery in 24 hours, as claimed.
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