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PeakMetrics / Fact Checks

Crime & justice fact checks

Explore claims publishers have checked about crime & justice. Read their original ratings and follow the evidence.

6,837 published reviews in this topic

FACTLYCrime & justice

Video of 28 sadhus who were caught red handed while kidnapping children and removing their kidneys in Varanasi

Publisher’s rating: FALSE

The claim concerns a video presented as showing 28 sadhus caught kidnapping children and removing their kidneys in Varanasi. FACTLY reports that Varanasi Rural Police instead described the men as sadhus who were taken to a police station on 1 September 2022 after villagers suspected them while they were asking for alms in the Barangoan area. Police checked their names and addresses, found no criminal history, and released them. That account does not support the claim that they were caught kidnapping children or removing organs. [S1: “some sadhus were brought to the police station and interrogated after the villagers suspected them while asking for alms by roaming in Barangoan area of UP. All their names and address were verified, and no criminal history was found against them. Later they were released.”] The review also distinguishes the video’s location and the circumstances shown from the viral allegation. It says the footage was from Beera Patti, under Barangoan Police Station, and cites the station’s SHO as confirming that the men were asking for alms when some people assaulted them over allegations of child theft. Police reportedly arrived and rescued them from the crowd. The review therefore describes the footage as showing a crowd incident involving suspected alms-seekers—not people caught removing children’s kidneys. [S1: “the sadhus seen in the video were asking for alms in the area, during which some people had assaulted the sadhus alleging child theft. When the police got information about this, the police reached the spot and saved those people from the crowd.”] As its checking process, FACTLY says it searched Twitter based on the post’s reference to the official UP Police account. It found a 6 September 2022 post by Varanasi Rural Police responding to a user who shared the video, including a statement by the Varanasi Rural SP; the UP Police account retweeted it. The police statement explicitly rejected the kidney-removal allegation and described the 1 September questioning and verification. [S1: “we ran an advanced search on Twitter and found a tweet made by Varanasi Rural Police on 06 September 2022, replying to a Twitter user who posted the viral video.”]

dpaCrime & justice

De vrouw die door Rusland wordt verdacht van de moord op Darya Doegina is dood aangetroffen in een hotel in Oostenrijk.

Publisher’s rating: De bewering is onwaar. De gedeelde foto verscheen twee jaar geleden al in Russische media. Het lichaam op de foto is zeer waarschijnlijk van een Russische vrouw, die destijds werd vermoord in Moskou. De valse claim is afkomstig van een dubieuze Oostenrijkse website. Russische staatsmedia geven ook aan dat de claim ongefundeerd is.