WebQoof Recap: Of BJP MP's Claim About 'No Farmer Suicides' & More

From an unsubstantiated claim by Nishikant Dubey on farmer suicides to claims around Nancy Pelosi's Taiwan visit.

Fake claim around Hima Das, to Nishikant Dubey's unbacked claim, to a fake article about monkeypox, and more.

(Image: Deeksha Malhotra/The Quint)

From Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP Nishikant's Dubey's unsubstantiated claim on farmer suicides in the Lok Sabha to an old video of Taiwanese army being shared as Chinese military firing missiles in the backdrop of US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's visit to Taiwan, here's a round up of all the misinformation that went viral on the internet this week.

1. BJP MP Nishikant Dubey's Claim on 'No Farmer Suicides' Isn't Backed by NCRB Data

BJP MP Nishikant Dubey said on 1 August that no farmer has died by suicide in the last eight years since the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) came to power.

However, a look at the data compiled by the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) paints a different picture. As per the data, there have been 43,181 farmer suicides during the 2014-2020 period.

Nishikant Dubey's claim on 'no farmer suicides' in the last eight years isn't backed by data.

You can read our fact-check here.

2. Hima Das Hasn't Won a Gold at CWG 2022 Yet, the Video is Old

An old video of Hima Das was shared widely on social media with a false claim that the Indian sprinter clinched gold at the ongoing Commonwealth Games.

Following this, former Indian cricketer Virendra Sehwag and BJP national spokesperson Sambit Patra congratulated the sprinter for her win. These tweets were later deleted.

However, we found that the video is from 2018 when Das had scripted history by clinching the top spot in the women’s 400m final race in the IAAF World Under-20 Athletics Championships in Tampere, Finland.

You can read our fact-check here.

3. Fake Article About Monkeypox Virus Living on Door Handles for 120 Yrs Goes Viral

The screenshot of an article purportedly by Irish news publication TheJournal.ie, with the headline, “Monkeypox can live on door handles and toilet seats for 120 years and can infect anyone from 5 miles away” is going viral on the internet.

An archive of the post can be seen here 

However, we found that the claims of the post were false and the screenshot was fake. The publication clarified that it has never published such an article on monkeypox as claimed in the viral post.

Though, according to the available research, it is possible for people to catch the virus by touching surfaces or coming in contact with clothes or linens used by infected people.

However, no study has shown or proved the claim that they remain infectious for 120 year.

You can read our fact-check here.

4. Video of a Man Threatening Two Girls With Knife Viral With Communal Claim

A video showing a man threatening two girls with a knife outside a cafe was widely shared on social media with a communal angle.

Several users shared the clip referring to it as 'Love Jihad', a word popularised by the right-wing, which refers to the alleged campaign of Muslims forcefully converting Hindu girls in the guise of love.

However, we contacted the police and found that the incident happened in the MIG area of Indore, but the claim that the accused belonged to the Muslim community was false. The WebQoof team found that everyone seen in the video were Hindus.

The accused was Piyush Rawat

You can read our fact-check here.

5. Old Video of Taiwanese Army Shared as ‘Chinese Military Firing Missiles'

After US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited Taiwan on Tuesday, 2 August, a video, which showed missiles being fired from a coastline, was shared on social media.

Some users claimed that it showed the Chinese military test-firing missiles toward the Taiwanese region. Pelosi's visit resulted in Chinese fury and the tensions in the Taiwanese region increased.

An archive of the post can be seen here 

However, we found the claim was false as the viral video was from November 2020 and showed a Taiwanese military drill. This was an old video which was not related to the speaker's visit to Taiwan.

You can read out fact-check here.

(Not convinced of a post or information you came across online and want it verified? Send us the details on WhatsApp at 9643651818, or e-mail it to us at [e-mail] and we'll fact-check it for you. You can also read all our fact-checked stories here.)