A viral image showing leaders of Goa Pradesh Congress Committee is being shared to claim that it shows a woman called Dr Rajkumari Bansal, who is being accused of having Naxal links and pretending to be the sister-in-law of the Hathras victim. Bansal is a resident of Jabalpur in Madhya Pradesh.
However, we found that the viral image does not show the Jabalpur woman. Rather, it shows Pratibha Borkar who is the Goa Pradesh Congress Committee social media in-charge.
CLAIM
Social media users have shared the image with the claim: “हाथरस नक्सली कांग्रेसी भौजाई” (Translated: Hathras Naxali Congressi Sister-in-law)
A user also claimed that she is the same person whom Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi hugged when she went to meet the victim’s family in Hathras. The user identified the woman as one ‘Rajkumari Bansal’.
Several social media users have shared the image on Facebook and Twitter with the claim that she is the same ‘naxal bhabhi’ and can be seen with Congress leaders.
WHAT WE FOUND OUT
We found that Dr Rajkumari Bansal, who hails from Jabalpur and is being accused of pretending to be Hathras victim’s sister-in-law, is not the same woman seen in the viral image with Congress leaders.
The woman in the viral image is actually Pratibha Borkar who is Goa Pradesh Congress Committee social media in-charge.
We found the viral image as the cover photo of Borkar’s Facebook profile.
Speaking to The Quint, Borkar said, “The image being circulated on social media is mine. However, neither have I met the family of Hathras victim nor have I gone to Hathras. I am from Goa.”
The Quint has not independently verified whether she is associated with the victim’s family in any way.
The Quint also accessed a video of Dr Rajkumari Bansal, a physician at Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose Medical College, where she can be seen interacting with the local media.
We compared the images of the two women and could establish that they are two different people.
WHOM DID PRIYANKA GANDHI HUG?
Amid massive security, Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi, along with three other Congress leaders, on 3 October, reached the residence of the kin of the Dalit woman who was allegedly gang-raped and murdered in Hathras.
The Quint had aired visuals of Priyanka meeting the victim’s family on 3 October.
Further, news channel India Today and journalist Marya Shakil, too, had shared visuals of the meet and identified the woman in the saree as mother of the victim.
Journalist Barkha Dutt was also on the ground and had spoken to victim’s mother. A video uploaded by Mojo on 3 October shows the mother of the victim wearing the same saree.
Evidently, Congress member Pratibha Borkar has been falsely identified as Dr Rajkumari Bansal who has been alleged as Hathras victim’s ‘Naxalite bhabhi.’
It is pertinent to note that The Quint is not commenting on whether the two women are associated with the victim’s family or if they have Naxalite links, but what we can confirm is that the two different women seen in the photos are different.
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