FACT CHECK: Congress leaders share 2009 case of BJP leader’s arrest for raping daughter

CLAIMZakiya Khan, national secretary and social media incharge of Congress posted a short news clip about FIR filed against a BJP leader for allegedly raping his daughter. Using this clip, she took a dig at PM Modi’s Beti Bachao Beti Padhao initiative. As per the video, a local BJP leader Ashok Taneja from Amritsar allegedly raped his daughter for 8 years.Zakiya tagged many prominent Congress leaders in her tweet.Former MLA and spokesman for Maharashtra Congress Bhai Jagtap too posted the same news clip with the same claim. He went a step further and alleged that when BJP leaders don’t spare their own daughters, they will never save other daughters.TRUTHThe case is 11 years old. The news clip is from 2009. Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao campaign was launched in 2015.VERIFICATION AND METHODOLOGYUsing relevant keywords, we found a video uploaded to the verified YouTube channel of NDTV on March 27, 2009. Titled ‘BJP leader arrested for raping daughter’, it was the same video as the one that has resurfaced now. “A local BJP leader has been arrested for allegedly raping his daughter for the last seven years. Police said BJP General Secretary of Ajnala town Ashok Taneja was arrested last night on the basis of a complaint lodged by his 24-year-old daughter,” read the description given to the video.A news report from Ahmedabad Mirror dated March 27, 2009 corroborated the same. It should be noted that the Beti Bachao Beti Padhao campaign by PM Modi was launched January 22, 2015.VERDICTTimes Fact Check has found that Congress leaders have used a 2009 case of BJP leader’s arrest for raping his daughter to take a dig at Beti Bachao Beti Padhao initiative launched by PM Modi in 2015.