CLAIMBharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP from
Karnataka's Udupi-Chikmagalur constituency
Shobha Karandlaje tweeted a collage with three images of 19-year-old
Shivkumar Balram Uppar
aka Shivu Uppar, a teenager from Karnataka's Belagavi who committed suicide on May 26, 2019, saying he was murdered and hanged for protecting cows from cow smugglers.
In her tweet, Karandlaje said, "Shivu Uppar, a 19-year-old boy was murdered & hanged in Bagewadi Bus stand in Belagavi. He was hacked to death just for protecting cows from cow smugglers; that was the only mistake he did. I demand CM to deal this sternly & arrest the culprits," along with #OmShanthi and #JusticeForShivuUppar.
Times Fact Check is not putting up the tweet or the screenshot of it owing to disturbing images. An archived version of Karandlaje's tweet is
here. The tweet has been retweeted more than 2,300 times now and liked by over 3,200 users, by now.
TRUTHThe post-mortem report of Shivu stated that he committed suicide, and was not killed, said a
TOI report. The post-mortem report said Uppar hanged to death. Shivu's body was found hanging in the APMC yard in Hirebagewadi in Belagavi Taluk on Sunday morning. The TOI report also said that SP Sudheerkumar Reddy shared the post-mortem report with media persons on Monday evening.
Shivu's parents visited Hirebagewadi police station and clarified that their son committed suicide and that they didn't have any doubts regarding his death, said another
TOI report. Shivu's parents said that their son ended his life after they asked him to concentrate on studies rather than getting involved in gau raksha activities.
TWO MEN ARRESTED FOR SPREADING FAKE NEWS ABOUT SHIVU'S DEATHTwo men -- 31-year-old Arjun Mutteppa Basargi and 28-year-old Fakirappa Ramesh Talwar -- were arrested by Karnataka Police for spreading fake news about Shivu's death, said the TOI report.
These two men posted messages on social media platforms claiming Shivu was murdered, along with photos of his body. A case was registered against the two accused under IPC sections 153a (promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race, place of birth, residence, language, etc., and doing acts prejudicial to maintenance of harmony) and 505(2) (statements conducive of public mischief, creating or promoting enmity, hatred or ill-will between classes.)