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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.

6,854 published reviews in this topic

Fact CrescendoCrime & justice

Claim: Huge money found in TN Minister SP Velumani's godown

Publisher’s rating: Fact Crescendo Rating: False

The review examines a viral video shared with claims that a fire occurred at Tamil Nadu minister S.P. Velumani’s godown and revealed a large stash of money. It reports that the video was widely shared on social media, including by a Facebook user identified as Sumaiya Sumaiya, and that posts presented it as footage from Velumani’s property. The review also says it searched for reports of a fire at the godown and found no such incident reported: “அமைச்சர் வேலுமணிக்குச் சொந்தமான குடோனில் தீ விபத்து எதுவும் நிகழ்ந்ததா என்பது பற்றி கூகுளில் தேடினோம். அதில், அப்படி ஒரு செய்தி நடக்கவே இல்லை என்று தெரியவந்தது.” To trace the footage, the review says it searched Yandex and Google. Those searches led it to material identifying the video as footage from an exhibition in Madrid, Spain, which had circulated in Spanish before spreading into other languages. The review’s account of the search findings is: “இந்த வீடியோ, ஸ்பெயின் நாட்டில் உள்ள மேட்ரிட் நகரில் நடந்த கண்காட்சி ஒன்றில் எடுக்கப்பட்டது என்ற விவரம் கிடைத்தது.” The review distinguishes the footage itself from the claim attached to it: it says the video is genuine, but not footage of Velumani’s godown, and reports no fire there. Its conclusion is that the viral post misrepresented the video’s setting. It also notes that Alt News had previously investigated the video’s claim, but the specific Madrid provenance and the searches described above are the evidence this review presents for its conclusion.

Fact CrescendoCrime & justice

Claim: MK Stalin tried to Molest Fathima Babu

Publisher’s rating: Fact Crescendo Rating: False

The review examines a social-media allegation that M.K. Stalin sexually assaulted Fathima Babu, a television newsreader, around 30 years earlier. It says posts revived the story in connection with the Pollachi sexual-assault case and criticism of Stalin’s comments on that case. The investigation describes posts that did not identify the alleged perpetrator in their text but paired the allegation with images of Stalin and Babu. This distinction matters: the review treats the posts as making a claim about these two named people, not as evidence that the assault occurred. [S1: “30 ஆண்டுகளுக்கு முன்பு தொலைக்காட்சி செய்தி வாசிப்பாளராக இருந்த பாத்திமா பாபுவை தி.மு.க தலைவர் மு.க.ஸ்டாலின் பாலியல் வன்கொடுமை செய்ததாகவும்”] The review traces the rumour to 1989 and reports that both people denied it at the time. It says the political magazine Nakkeeran asked Stalin about the allegation in November 1989; his reported response was that no such incident had occurred and that political opponents were spreading a rumour. The review also cites a 1989 Kumudam interview in which Babu said she had never met Stalin and that the alleged incident had not happened. These accounts are presented as direct denials by the people named in the claim, rather than as independent eyewitness documentation of the events. [S1: “1989ம் ஆண்டு நவம்பர் மாதத்தில், இது குறித்து மு.க.ஸ்டாலினிடம் கேள்வி எழுப்பியது.”; “அப்படி ஒரு சம்பவமே நடைபெறவில்லை. அரசியல் எதிரிகள் திட்டமிட்டு வதந்தியை பரப்புகின்றனர். பாத்திமா பாபுவை சந்தித்ததே இல்லை”] For later circulation, the review says it sought Babu’s response again in 2018 and quotes her rejecting the allegation as untrue. It also refers to a Facebook livestream in which she addressed supporters and well-wishers. The review concludes that the assault claim is false, relying principally on the reported 1989 interviews and Babu’s later denial. Its account establishes that the allegation was repeatedly denied by the people named; the supplied excerpt does not describe independent documentary or forensic verification of the alleged event. [S1: “இது குறித்து கடந்த 2018ம் ஆண்டு கூட பாத்திமா பாபுவிடம் விளக்கம் கேட்கப்பட்டது.”; “அப்படி ஒரு சம்பவமே நடைபெறவில்லை என்று கூறிவிட்டேன்.”]