Fact Check: Viral Claim of Religious Fanaticism Behind Man’s Death in Varanasi Proven False

In the age of social media, fake news has the potential to spread like wildfire. One such incident involves a viral picture of a dead man, with claims that he was beaten by a group of people due to which the man sustained fatal injuries and eventually dies after a month in Varanasi. They also claim that he died due to religious fanaticism. According to claims made by a Facebook user named Israel Vprabhakar, the man in the picture was beaten with sticks until they broke. He further alleges that the incident occurred one month ago and the man recently passed away.

Another Facebook user, including Thimothy Thimothy, shared the viral picture and claims that the man was beaten to death in Varanasi. He claims that the man was not only slapped but also beaten with sticks until they broke. He also claimed that the man in the viral picture passed away a month after the attack.

Apart from this, a Youtube channel with the name Prayer Mansion also shared the video of the viral man who is dead now with a slightly different claim. The video claims that the man in the picture is Prem Singh Chauhan, an employee from Jaunpur district near Varanasi. According to the video, Prem Singh was attacked on May 30, 2022, due to religious fanaticism. A police case was filed against him, and he was allegedly beaten and put in jail under the Prohibition of Conversion Scheme. The video further alleges that Prem was taken out on bail but ultimately died on April 21, 2023, due to non-compliance and police harassment.

The story behind this viral image is getting more complicated by the minute, with multiple versions of events circulating online. But amidst all the claims and allegations, what’s the truth? Let’s Fact Check.

Also Read: False Claims Exposed: Viral Video of Harassment on Muslim Girl in Hijab by Hindus Debunked

Fact Check

During our investigation, we conducted extensive keyword research but found no concrete evidence to support the claims being made. However, our investigation took us to the official Facebook page of Jaunpur Police, where we found a post addressing the claims surrounding Prem Singh Chauhan.

According to the post, the incident involving Prem Singh Chauhan occurred almost a year ago when he was accused of religious conversion in village Nari Gram. Sri Kamlakant Prajapati lodged an FIR against him on May 31, 2022, and a chargesheet was submitted on June 13, 2022, after a thorough investigation. The post further clarifies that, as per preliminary enquiry in the village, Prem Singh Chauhan died of natural death on April 20, 2023, and it’s a distortion of facts to link his unfortunate death to the incident on May 31, 2022.

Furthermore, the Jaunpur Police attached a handwritten note by Rekha Yadav, the head of the village Katehari, as further evidence regarding Prem Singh Chauhan’s death. Rekha Yadav’s note confirms that Chauhan belonged to her village and died on April 20, 2023, due to natural causes. She explicitly denies that Chauhan died from any kind of beating, directly contradicting the claims made in the viral posts. Moreover, Rekha Yadav’s testimony added further weight to the official statement by the Jaunpur Police.

Next, the Onlyfact team contacted the Jaunpur police for further clarification on the incident. The Jaunpur police informed us that, Kamlakant Prajapati had lodged a complaint against Prem Singh Chauhan on May 31, 2022, alleging that Chauhan had taken him to Nari village and attempted to force him to convert to Christianity. Prajapati claimed that Chauhan had lured him to the house of Lalchand Nishad, a resident of Nari village, and attempted to bribe him with money. When Prajapati became suspicious, he called some acquaintances to the scene and caught Chauhan, from whom they recovered a number of documents, including a Bible.

Furthermore, the Jaunpur police also provided us with a copy of the FIR filed by Kamlakant Prajapati. With this document in our possession, we were able to scrutinize the complaint made by Kamlakant Prajapati and gain a better understanding of the incident.

Moreover, the FIR copy provided by Jaunpur Police also included the testimonies of several other villagers from Nari, Baksha, Jaunpur who had witnessed the incident and who had signed and attested to the complaint made by Kamlakant Prajapati.

In conclusion, the claims that have gone viral on social media regarding the death of Prem Singh Chauhan due to religious fanaticism and police harassment are completely false. The only fact team’s investigation reveals that the incident occurred almost a year ago in May 2022, and Prem Singh Chauhan passed away due to natural causes on April 20, 2023, and not because of any beating or police harassment.

Claim	Prem Singh Chauhan died due to religious fanaticism and police harassment
Claimed by	Israel Vprabhakar, Thimothy Thimothy, Prayer Mansion etc
Fact Check	False and Misleading

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