“Wink like Priya Varrier and you will be debarred, Coimbatore college tells students!”
This was the headline of an article published by the English language daily Times of India on 18 March, which was later withdrawn. According to the report, VLB Janakiammal College in Coimbatore, TN has issued a circular which says that girls who are found winking like actress Priya Varrier will be debarred for one year.
The article talks about a circular which states that faculty members have complained about female students “imitating the viral eye winks of Ms. Priya Prakash Varrier”. It further says that CCTV cameras have been installed in all classrooms to monitor such behaviour. The circular has been posted below.
This image of the document was floating on social media with a number of users posting and sharing it, believing it to be true. It also raised doubts among some users.
This news was given credence to by no less a publication than Times of India, but as it turned out, the circular was fake. VLB Janakiammal College, Coimbatore has confirmed through a Facebook post on 18 March that no such circular has been issued. It also added that a circular had been issued in January 2018 in which students were informed that henceforth, fresh juices would be served on campus in place of soft drinks.
Moreover, if you look at the circular, it is dated 24 January 2018 whereas Priya Varrier’s teaser for her upcoming movie became famous in February 2018. Also, a closer look at this circular reveals that the original document has been tampered with. In the space where the text has been printed, an outline of a rectangle can be seen which suggests that the original text has been replaced. Boomlive in an article had pointed this out.
A Twitter user @beastoftraal too brought this to the notice of social media users.
This is not the first time that prominent media organisations have missed a step when it comes to reporting news. The report was published without verifying its authenticity and later retracted, when a preliminary check would have sufficed.
(The article has been published in an arrangement with Alt News)
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