Propagandists are circulating an image of an individual with the claim that an Indian Hindu man, Prakash Lekhraj, raped a teenage girl, shared photos of her, and boasted to his friends about his crimes in a group chat. However, D-Intent Data has discovered that the accused man is not Indian but Canadian. The image used in the post depicts Arul Savari, a Roman Catholic priest, also a rape accused.
Sharing the image on X (Formerly Twitter) propagandist account @Varunkohli_82 wrote, Indian Hindu man, Prakash Lekhraj, raped a teenage girl, shared photos of her, and boasted to his friends about his crimes in a group chat. Absolutely vile and disgusting but not shocking as this is common In India apparently.
Several other users and Influencers have also shared the image and made similar claims. Their posts can be seen here, @AsianDigest, @IndianKumarSin1
The truth behind the claims about sexually assaulting a teenage girl in Canada, Fact Check
As soon as the posts containing the image and claims came to our notice. Subsequently, we conducted research and analysis regarding the claims and found that the news was related to a Canadian citizen and that the image used in the post depicts a different individual.
To verify the claims made by the users. We performed a reverse image search using Google Lens. This led us to a media report containing the image, the image depicts Arul Savari, a Roman Catholic priest, who was charged with sexual assault, sexual interference, sexual exploitation of a young person, luring a child and forcible confinement.
We also ran a relevant keyword search and found another report regarding the accused Prakash Lekhraj. According to reports(1, 2), A 56-year-old Burnaby man Prakash Lekhraj, who also goes by Paul Lekhraj, was found guilty of one count of sexual assault and one count of making or publishing child pornography after a trial last November. He was sentenced in September to three years and three months in prison and ordered to be on the national sex offender registry for 20 years. Hence, he was a Canadian, not an Indian.
Therefore, it is evident from D-Intent Data’s Fact Check that the accused was a Canadian citizen, not an Indian.
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— D-Intent Data (@dintentdata) November 17, 2024
ANALYSIS: Misleading
FACT: Propagandists are circulating an image of an individual with the claim that an Indian Hindu man, Prakash Lekhraj, raped a teenage girl, shared photos of her, and boasted to his friends about his crimes in a group chat. (1/3) pic.twitter.com/2XNJnMYm9N
Intent
Propagandists are circulating images and news with misleading claims to target Indians.
Conclusion
Claim– Indian Hindu man, Prakash Lekhraj, raped a teenage girl, shared photos of her. And boasted to his friends about his crimes in a group chat.
Fact – The accused is a Canadian citizen, not an Indian. Also, the image used in the post was from a different incident.
Related Article: Fact Check: Old video of sexual assault against a woman in New York City circulated with misleading claims – D-Intent Data
