Indian opposition leader was not filmed 'fleeing questions' about former party leader's court case

"Is Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav running away from media? Know that when confronted with the truth, those playing propaganda politics have to escape," read a Hindi-language Facebook post on September 6, 2024.

The accompanying video shows Akhilesh Yadav, president of the opposition Samajwadi Party, apparently scaling a fence as he is surrounded by a media scrum (archived link). 

Hindi-language sticker text on the video translates as: "The rape accused is from SP. When the media questioned Akhilesh Yadav, he jumped the fence and escaped."

Nawab Singh Yadav, a former leader of the Samajwadi Party, was arrested on August 12 for allegedly raping a minor in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh.

Kannauj Superintendent of Police Amit Kumar Anand told AFP on September 17: "The accused Nawab Singh Yadav has been arrested under relevant sections of Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (Indian Justice Code) and Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act."

While the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has claimed Nawab Singh Yadav is a close associate of Samajwadi Party member Dimple Yadav, a member of parliament and Akhilesh Yadav's wife, the latter has distanced itself from its former leader.

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Screenshot of the false post taken on September 10, 2024

The same video was also shared alongside a similar false claim on X and Facebook. 

But the video does not show Yadav fleeing from questions about Nawab Singh Yadav. 

Unrelated video

A reverse image search on Google found a screengrab of the video published in a news report in the Indian Express on October 11, 2023 (archived link).

The report's headline read, "Denied permission to enter JPNIC, Akhilesh scales wall to offer tribute to JP."

Below is a screenshot comparison of the video shared in false posts (left) and a screenshot published in The Indian Express (right). 

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Screenshot comparison of the video shared in false posts (left) and screengrab published in Indian Express (right)

The report stated that Akhilesh Yadav scaled the wall of Jai Prakash Narayan International Centre in northern Lucknow city on October 11, 2023 after he was "denied permission to enter the premises to offer floral tribute to freedom fighter Jayaprakash Narayan on his birth anniversary".

Yadav inaugurated the centre in 2016 while he was Uttar Pradesh chief minister, but the memorial has been closed since the BJP took power in the state in 2017.

The report quoted officials from the Lucknow Development Authority, which oversees the centre, as saying that Yadav had sought permission to attend the memorial event for Narayan, which was denied.  

A longer version of the video was posted on the official X handle of Samajwadi Party on October 11, 2023 (archived link). 

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