Twinkle Sharma murder: What happened, and what didn’t
Three days after a two-and-a-half year old girl was abducted, her
mutilated body was carried by stray dogs out of a dumping ground on Sunday in
Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh. Widespread condemnation and outrage sparked on
social media via hashtags and tweets that included misinformation.
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The body of the
child, Twinkle Sharma, was found close to her house in Tappal town on the
outskirts of Aligarh. The police have arrested two of the accused, Zahid and
Aslam, who have confessed to the crime. They were her neighbours and lived
about half a kilometre away. Initial investigations suggest that the motive was
revenge, as the girl’s parents allegedly failed to repay a loan of Rs. 10,000.
The Aligarh Police
said that they will probe the murder under the National Security Act (NSA) and
transfer the case to a fast track court.
The brutality of
the incident is shocking. However, social media and popular media reports are
abuzz with reactions from celebrities and netizens alike who claim that the
minor was raped, had her eyes gouged out, and was poured acid on- all of which
are untrue.
Alt News, a
popular fact-checking site, confirmed through their sources that the
post-mortem made no mention of rape. Aligarh police clarified this via a tweet,
after a social media user claimed that the victim was raped.
Contrary to the
morbid details in popular media, Akash Kulhary, SSP Aligarh confirmed that the
victim was not raped. He added that the post-mortem report mentions death by
strangulation as the cause, and that claims about the victim’s eyes being
gouged out, and acid being poured are false.
A communal air to
this shocking event is billowing, as enraged social media users compare
Twinkle’s violent death to the horrific abduction, rape and murder of
8-year-old Asifa Bano in Kathua. There is a growing demand for stringent
justice for the accused. The incident has sparked rage, but misinformation is
being spread like wildfire on social media, with the potential to further
exacerbate tension and mistrust during troubled times.
However,
there are many who have not allowed communalism to overshadow the seriousness
and brazen nature of Twinkle's murder, and demand justice for the accused.
