Gujarati woman leaves Islam and gifts Rs 12 lakh crown to Shivji’s statue? Read Fact Check
Mobeen Ahmad 
These are days of Navratra. People are fasting and praying. Meanwhile, some media outlets and social media users are sharing a picture with the claim that “a Gujarati woman, who is a doctor by profession, has left Islam and gifted a Rs 12 lakh crown to Shivji.”
News24 shared the picture on its Twitter account with the caption: “Woman leaves Islam and gifts Lord Shiva Rs 12 lakh crown. She is from Gujarat and a medical professional in America. #Viralnews | #UttarPradesh”.
Twitter account of News Channel Jan–Tantra made similar claim.
A verified Twitter user shared the same picture and said: “#सनातन_धर्म_ही_सर्वश्रेष्ठ_है #हर_हर_महादेव Sanatan Dharma is the greaest! Har Har mahadev! Woman leaves Islam and gifts Lord Shiva with Rs 12 lakh crown. She is from Gujarat and a doctor based in America. #Viralnews | #UttarPradesh.”
According to Twitter bio of Vivek Pandey, he is chief of Rashtravadi Hindu Mahasabha and general secretary of BJP’s farmer front in Varanasi. (@bjpvnsMahanagar).
Alok Jha, Delhi bureau chief of Sudarshan News also shared the same picture and wrote: “Gujarati woman leaves and adopts Sanatana Dharma. She gifts Rs 12 lakh golden crown on Shivji. She is America-based doctor and hails from Gujarat. Welcome to Sanatana Dharma.”
Sudarshan News’s another journalist Kumar Sagar shared the picture and wrote about it: “Quits Islam and embraces Hinduism. Gifts Rs 12 golden crown to Shivji. The woman is a doctor in America. She was born in Gujarat. She honoured Shivji statue in Dasna temple in Ghaziabad.”
Other social media users made similar claims.
Fact Check:
To know the truth behind viral picture, the DFRAC team did reverse image search. The team found the viral picture on the twitter account of Yati NarsinghaNand Saraswati Foundation The caption of this picture read: “Har Har Mahdev! America—based new entrant to Sanatana Dharma, a renowned doctor, gifted a golden crown to Shivji at Shivshakti Dham temple in Dasna.”
Tweet Archive Link
The search on the picture led the team to Twitter account of a woman named Udita Tyagi. She quote-tweeted @Yatifoundation. Udita can be seen in both these tweets. Her Twitter bio says that she is a regional secretary of BJP’s Women Wing and general secretary of Akhil Bharatiya Brahmarishi Mahasangh.
Tweet Archive Link
When the DFRAC team probed whether Udita Tyagi quit Islam and embraced Hinduism, it found a tweet made on March 31, 2018. It’s a pinned tweet. She has shared a newspaper cutting in this tweet. She can be seen being honoured by UP CM Yogi Adityanath in this clipping. The news item recognises her by the name of Udita Tyagi.
Tweet Archive Link
Conclusion:
The investigation by the DFRAC team makes it clear that the woman in viral picture is Udita Tyagi. She is not a Muslim. Rather she is a BJP politician. There is no evidence to prove that she had left Islam and embraced Hinduism. Thus, the viral claims about her are fake.
