Even as rumours spread like wildfire through social media on the health of Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa, who is presently admitted in the Apollo hospital in Chennai, an 'edit war' broke out on Wikipedia on Friday after unknown users tried to declare 30 September 2016 as her date of death.
The edits, which started around 6 am on Friday, saw a steep escalation around 4.30 pm, with one section of people claiming that she was dead and another undoing those edits as it was unconfirmed.
While many added a death column on the Wikipedia page to 'confirm' that she died on 30 September, some edits suggested that her 'Expected death date' was 1 October.
Many users who declared her death, were also reported by other users to the Wikipedia admins.
One user wrote "The Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu is alive and undergoing treatment. it's a national issue now on Wikipedia. Please refrain in future."
On Thursday morning, a medical bulletin announced that Jayalalithaa had been advised to stay for a few more days in the hospital for recuperative treatment.
Meanwhile, DMK President M Karunanidhi has urged the state government to put to rest rumours surrounding the CM’s health. Jayalalithaa was admitted in Apollo for fever and dehydration on 22 September. Subsequently, the hospital said she was cured of fever, was under observation and on a normal diet.
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