Screenshot Of Fudged Tweet Passed Off As Report By ABP Asmita. Here's The Truth

A wrong screenshot has been widely shared with the claim that ABP Asmita used the terms 'Sadhvi' And 'Dharm Guru' to report on the Sister Abhaya murder case.

A screenshot of a news report claiming to have been posted by ABP Asmita has been widely shared with the false claim that the terms 'sadhvi' and 'dharm guru' were used to report on the murder case of Sister Abhaya. The Kerana nun's body was found in the well of Kottayam convent on March 27, 1992. Nearly two decades later, in December 2020, a CBI court found two persons guilty of the murder and sent them to life imprisonment. The ABP Asmita report in question was published after this verdict. 

On December 24, two screenshots were posted on X from the handle on one Ashok Shrivastav — one showed an 'ABP Asmita' X handle and another of a line highlighted from the report. Both screenshots had the ABP Live URL visible. The text shown in the tweet is, however, wrong, and so is the headline shown in the screenshot.  

ABP Asmita Digital Editor Maheshsinh Rayjada set the record straight with facts in his post.

Quote-tweeting the post, Rayjada shared the original links posted by the actual ABP Asmita handle on Facebook as well as the link to the original report posted on the website on December 23, 2020, which was, in fact, a photo gallery. He further clarified that the ABP Asmita handle never shared any such post on X as seen in the screenshot. As visible in the Facebook link, the headline and the text with the post were entirely different.

It should also be noted that the ABP Asmita handle on X now has a gold tick, and not a blue tick as has been shown in the screenshot. This indicates that the post is old, and has been tampered with. 

What Was The Abhaya Case?

In December 2020, convicts Father Thomas Kottoor and Sister Sephy were sentenced to life imprisonment by a CBI court in the Sister Abhaya murder case after a strenuous legal battle spanning a long time. According to the CBI, Sister Abhaya was killed after she found Kottoor, Sephy and another accused Father Jose Puthrikkayil in a compromising position. Fearing that the incident would be disclosed, Kottoor allegedly strangled her, while Sephy attacked her with an axe and then dumped her body in the well.

In 2022, the Kerala High Court granted bail and suspended the life term.