Viral claims about Safoora Zargar’s pregnancy and marital status are false
Various claims about Jamia Milia Islamia student and activist Safoora Zargar’s pregnancy and marital status are being made on Facebook and Twitter. Zargar was one of the protestors at Delhi’s Shaheen Bagh (among other places), protesting against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA). The 27-year-old scholar was arrested on April 10 and then charged under non-bailable offences under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA). She is currently imprisoned at Tihar Jail.
Claim: शाहीन बाग में दंगा भड़काने को लेकर चर्चा में आई अविवाहित जामिया की लॉ की छात्रा सफूरा जरगर जो कि इस समय तिहाड़ जेल में बंद हैं!जेल में कोरोना टेस्ट किया गया तो ये दो महीने की प्रेग्नेंट निकली! भाई, ये चल क्या रहा है? बचाव में अब ये मत कहना कि ये ऊपर वाले की देन है!!
(Translation: Safoora Zargar, a law student from Jamia who was talked about because of inciting violence at Shaheen Bagh, is currently imprisoned at Tihar Jail! She was tested for Coronavirus in jail and she turned out to be two months along in her pregnancy! What is going on? Don’t defend this by saying that it is a gift from God!!!)
Manoj Kumar Azad, whose Twitter bio says he is a BJP worker from Muzaffarnagar tweeted her photographs with the claim. The tweet has more than 8,000 likes and has been retweeted more than 2,200 times.
#शाहीन_बाग में दंगा भड़काने को लेकर चर्चा में आई अविवाहित जामिया की लॉ की छात्रा #सफूरा_जरगर जो कि इस समय तिहाड़ जेल में बंद हैं!जेल में कोरोना टेस्ट किया गया तो ये दो महीने की #प्रेग्नेंट निकली! भाई, ये चल क्या रहा है? बचाव में अब ये मत कहना कि ये ऊपर वाले की देन है!! 🙄😏 pic.twitter.com/FJGSc2DvX0
— मनोज कुमार आजाद (@AzadmanojBjp) May 4, 2020
(Archived)
#शाहीन_बाग में दंगा भड़काने को लेकर चर्चा में आई अविवाहित जामिया की लॉ की छात्रा #सफूरा_जरगर जो कि इस समय तिहाड़ जेल में बंद हैं!जेल में कोरोना टेस्ट किया गया तो ये दो महीने की #प्रेग्नेंट निकली! भाई, ये चल क्या रहा है? बचाव में अब ये मत कहना कि ये ऊपर वाले की देन है 🙄 pic.twitter.com/R27u9X39YW
— Praveen Chauhan 🚩 28k (@chauhansaabpc) May 4, 2020
(Archived)
The same text and set of images have been shared on Facebook as well.
(Archived)
Users have shared videos with the same claims.
(Archived)
Truth
Safoora Zargar has been married since 2018 and was aware of her pregnancy before her arrest. India drew international criticism for arresting a pregnant woman, as detainment should be the last resort for pregnant and nursing women, according to the UN. (Link)
Using keywords on Google search, we found multiple articles by different organizations that establish Ms Zargar’s pregnancy precedes her arrest. These articles also mention her husband, who has consistently chosen to remain unnamed.
The most prominent of these articles is one by Amnesty International, a London based human rights NGO, who condemn Zargar’s arrest. The article states that Zargar is three months pregnant, a fact that she was aware of before her imprisonment.
A report by AltNews includes a court application for bail, dated 21 April, clearly states that Zargar was 13 weeks pregnant.
Her sister, Sameeya Zargar, spoke to Outlook India about her sister’s arrest and how her sister hardly got to speak to her husband or her lawyer. Sameeya retweeted the article on her account.
Zargar’s sister, as well as her husband, spoke to The Print condemning the viral message.
Many other articles by various news organisations have carried quotes from Zargar’s husband.
The statements made in the viral message are deplorable attacks on Zargar’s character, which attempt to malign her image.
We have previously fact-checked fake news attempting to assassinate a woman’s character.
The claims of Safoora Zargar being unmarried are false, as are the claims about her discovering her pregnancy in prison.
