Alt News has debunked a report that was run by almost all major media outlets for two days as an example of the rising cases of necrophilia or sexual desire towards corpses in Pakistan. The report included an image of a padlocked grave and claimed that parents in Pakistan lock their daughters' graves to prevent rape.
All of the media outlets that published the image used by ANI Digital, which wrote a story titled 'Pakistani parents lock daughters' graves to avoid rape,' cited a Daily Times article that claimed parents in Pakistan guard their deceased daughters' graves with padlocks to prevent necrophilia.
The Times of India, NDTV, Mirror Now, ThePrint, India Today, Wion, IndiaTV, Times Now, DNA India, OpIndia Hindi, News24, ABP News, Amar Ujala, News18, Firstpost, Jagran, and The Hindustan Times are among the media outlets that published a syndicated story from ANI about rising cases of necrophilia in Pakistan.
They all used the same image provided by ANI, which claimed that parents in Pakistan lock their daughters' graves to prevent rape. Zee News even produced a video report using the same image.
However, Alt News has uncovered the truth behind the image and report. In its fact check, the report has turned out to be a fake one and the image of the padlocked grave is not from Pakistan but from a cemetery in Hyderabad, India. The image had been circulated on social media with a false claim that it was from Pakistan.
Alt News contacted a social worker named Abdul Jaleel who visited the cemetery and provided photographs of the padlocked grave.
Muqtar Sahab, the Muazzin of the Masjid E Salar Mulk located near the cemetery, said that the padlocked grave was constructed without the permission of the concerned committee and was blocking the pathway. He added that the grille was constructed to prevent people from burying any bodies further and to prevent people from stamping on the grave since it was located right in front of the entrance.
Alt News also spoke to a local resident whose house was near the mosque. He informed Alt News that the grave belonged to an aged woman who had passed away in her seventies, and her son had constructed the grille over the grave about 40 days after she had been buried.
In conclusion, Alt News has exposed the truth behind the viral image of a padlocked grave, which had nothing to do with necrophilia or Pakistan. The grave is located in a cemetery in Hyderabad, India, and the padlock was constructed to prevent people from burying any bodies further and to prevent people from stamping on the grave.