posing

@PartyVillage017 No mistaking.. CommieChrislamists n libbies plus those who peddle fake news are united....... In… https://t.co/LhSj23fp5j — PARASHURAM;👉The GOOD👈 HiNDU who wants RamMandir (@ACuteTroll1) 1541319318000

If This 👇Wont Shake Conscience Of #Hindus Then Nothing Can 🙏To This #Ayyappa Swamy Bhakt Who Has Risen Up To… https://t.co/9MWAmXXbFd — Anupam@One N Only (@AnupamRana17) 1541143444000

With Lord Ayyappa in one hand, holding the policeman's lathi in another & the kick on his chest. Powerful Symbolic… https://t.co/S67eVD9PKA — Biswajit Roy (@biswajitroy2009) 1541313837000

TRUTH

VERIFICATION AND METHODOLOGY

This is how #FakeNews is created. A staged photo shoot of a man called Rajesh Kurup (രാജേഷ് കുറുപ്പ് ശ്രീകല്യാണി) b… https://t.co/LELoeJ9SmR — Bobins Abraham (@BobinsAbraham) 1541226862000

"Please dont spread fake news".his name is rajesh kurup And also my neighbour.he is a bjp activist.he shared some p… https://t.co/aR6STHsuPm — AKSHAY RAVI (@AKSHAY81390) 1541345633000

VERDICT

Rajesh Kurup, an RSS worker who hails from Kerala 's Mavelikkara, posted a few photos of him in different attires and looks on his Facebook profile. The photos Kurup shared was from a photoshoot he got done. In two of these photos, Kurup could be seen posing as an Ayyappa devotee.Both the photos are dramatic. In one, Kurup could be seen holding a lathi with one hand, and an idol on the other, close to his chest. Kurup has someone's foot on his chest. The idea is clear from the Khaki trousers and the boot the person stamping Kurup is wearing. In the photo, Kurup isan an Ayyappa devotee who is being thrashed by a policeman.In the second photo, Kurup could be seen holding the idol with both hands, with a billhook against his neck.Within hours of Kurup posting these pictures, it went viral on social media but not as images from a photoshoot but a false claim that these photos show the Kerala Police 's brutality on Ayyappa devotees.MLA from Delhi's Karawal Nagar Kapil Mishra was one of the first people with a lot of followers to tweet Kurup’s photos with the false claim. Sharing the first photo, Mishra wrote, “In the eyes of this devotee, there is no fear of brutality, there is no fear of oppression, this is the power of faith”, with #Sabarimala and #Ayyappa.Many social media users shared the images from Kurup's photoshoot with the same claim, both on Facebook and Twitter.The photos of Kurup are indeed from a photoshoot. We found photographer Midhun Krishna's photography page on Facebook and he has shared a few other photos of Kurup he clicked. For instance -Times Fact Check contacted Krishna to find out the truth. Krishna confirmed that he had done a photoshoot with Kurup. However, it is the second image, one with a billhook against Kurup's neck, that was clicked by him.Bobbins Abraham, journalist working with Times Internet, had tweeted about how the images are being used to generate and propagate fake news, highlighting Krishna’s watermark on one of the photos of Kurup.Speaking to Times Fact Check, Krishna said that Kurup is his friend and they had done the photoshoot in October. Krishna said that the image that is going viral with the false claim was not clicked by him but confirmed that it was another photoshoot done on November 1.Krishna also said that Kurup is being attacked online by many and is now busy with police cases since complaints have been lodged against him for spreading communal hatred. "Whoever misused these photos, did something terrible. Kurup's family is now in danger and are receiving a lot of threats," Krishna said.Meanwhile, another Twitter user Akshay Ravi tweeted saying Kurup is his neighbour and that the photoshoot was done for a short film Kurup is working on.Kurup has changed the privacy settings of his Facebook account and has taken down the pictures after abusive-comment spree on it.Times Fact Check has confirmed that the photo that is going viral with the claim that it depicts Kerala Police's brutality on Sabarimala devotees is actually from a photoshoot and not a photo clicked during a real incident.