In yet another incident where the media tried to give a ‘Hindu spin’ to a crime perpetrated by a Muslim. The Time of India today reported that in Maharashtra, a ‘godman’ forced his male devotees into ‘unnatural sex’. As per the report, one Asif Noori, a 38-year-old self-styled godman was arrested in Buldhana district in Maharashtra days after video and audio clips of allegedly forcing male devotees into unnatural sex went viral on social media.
As per reports, a preliminary police investigation has revealed that Noori took his victims to a room where he would allegedly drug them on the pretext of performing a ritual and force them to have unnatural sex with them.
However, The Times of India, while tweeted the same report, used a misleading image to report the crime. The image of sketch of a sadhu was used for a crime where the accused is a Muslim.
This is not the first time the media has given such ‘Hindu spin’. Earlier, too, words like ‘tantrik’, a practitioner of ‘tantra vidya’ which is mainly associated with Hinduism, were used by media to report on rape where accused was one Rahmat Ali Sheikh.
Many Twitter users pointed out the misleading image used by The Times of India which could tarnish the image of Hindu spiritual leaders.
https://twitter.com/smitabarooah/status/1021260250744328192?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
https://twitter.com/GitaSKapoor/status/1021265207769935874?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw