A WhatsApp message was widely circulated in Hyderabad and Telangana earlier this month, falsely claiming that a Hindu woman was beaten up by Muslim men in the state capital, after she chanted 'Jai Sri Ram'.
The message in Telugu which did the rounds, were accompanied by photos of a woman showing injuries on her cheek and neck. However, the police have since come out and stated that the message is fake.
A Google reverse image search shows that the case is from Haryana and first surfaced after the woman in question went live on Facebook, to talk about alleged domestic violence meted out against her.
A miscreant in Telangana is learnt to have taken photos from the live and shared them on Facebook and WhatsApp with a fake message. The Ramagundam police in Telangana have since arrested him and sent him to remand, Commissioner of Police, V Satyanarayana, told TNM.
The senior police official also said that nine others were also picked up by authorities for circulating fake messages claiming that child kidnappers were on the prowl in the state.
"We counselled them and let them off with a stern warning against committing such a crime again," Satyanarayana said.
The police also appealed to people not to believe such rumours and also if they receive such 'forwards', they should delete them immediately.
Earlier this month, viral posts on social media also claimed that the number of missing complaints in Hyderabad has been increasing day by day and "nearly 82 people went missing in Telangana within just 24 hours on Saturday (June 8)".
The police top brass has claimed that the data with regard to missing persons was twisted to give a sinister interpretation. Officials also said there was no reason to panic as the figures were not unusual.
TNM had also done a fact check done on the previous claim.