A Belgavi teenager's death rocked the district with many, including BJP MP Shobha Karandlaje, alleging that he was hung to death for saving cows and blocking the transport of beef in the region.
The post-mortem conducted on Shivakumar Uppar, who had died Saturday night, revealed that the 19-year-old had actually committed suicide and was not murdered.
Claim
Shivakumar was murdered for saving cows. The assailants had killed and hanged him.
The news was perpetrated by two men, 31-year-old Arjun MB and 28-year-old Fakeerappa Ramesh Talawar. They spread the news via social media.
"These two had posted fake news on Facebook about the death of the young man in Belagavi so we have arrested them," said a police official from Gokak police station was quoted as saying by The News Minute.
BJP MP Shobha Karandlaje also gave her two pence via Twitter on Monday, accusing the 'assailants' of killing the teenager without verifying the facts.
She had tweeted, "Shivu Uppar, a 19-year-old boy was murdered & hanged in Bagewadi Bus stand in Belagavi. He was hacked to death just for protecting cows from cow smugglers; that was the only mistake he did. I demand CM to deal this sternly & arrest the culprits. #OmShanthi JusticeForShivuUppar."
BJP MLA from Chikkamagaluru, CT Ravi also tweeted on Monday saying, Shivu Uppar, an 18 years young Activist was found dead by hanging in Belagavi, Karnataka. He was in the forefront to protect Cows from being smuggled and slaughtered. I demand @CMofKarnataka to order an inquiry into this suspicious death and take suitable action immediately."
Truth
The post mortem in Shivkumar's body showed that the teenager had committed suicide on Saturday night by hanging himself. His parents also confirmed to the Hirebagewadi police that he had killed himself and was not murdered for allegedly protecting cows. He killed himself because his parents asked him to concentrate on studies and not spend time as a gau rakshak.
Suresh Angadi, Belgavi's MP also confirmed in a tweet that Shivkumar's death was not a murder but suicide. He added, "I request all the citizens not to forward the false news and trust our Police in knowing the reason behind suicide."
Due to the sensitive nature of the images attached to the tweet, it will not be embedded here but can be checked in this link.
Verdict
Shivkumar, also known as Shivu, had killed himself and was not murdered for protecting cows.
