A Twitter account impersonating NEET 2020 topper Akanksha Singh alleging religious discrimination as the reason for her not receiving as much media attention as Soyeb Aftab - who ranked first - is fake.
BOOM was able to confirm that Singh has no social media presence and that the Twitter handle in her name is a fake account
The results of the NEET exam were declared on October 16, 2020, in which two candidates scored full marks, a 'perfect 720', Singh from Uttar Pradesh's Kushinagar was ranked second in the list behind Soyeb Aftab from Rourkela, Odisha who was ranked first.
Singh was awarded the second rank under NEET's Tie-Breaking Policy that ranks students with the same marks on the basis of four criteria - marks in Biology, Chemistry, number of incorrect answers and the candidate's age. In this case, since both Aftab and Singh scored full marks, the other three parameters could not be compared. Thus, their ages were compared. As Aftab is 18 he was ranked first while Singh, who is 17, has been awarded the second rank, a National Testing Agency official told PTI.
This led to several social media users questioning why was Aftab declared the topper despite both of them 'scoring 720 out of 720', with some right-wing social media accounts giving it a communal spin.
Also Read: Explained: Top Two NEET Scorers Got The Same Marks But Different Ranks
The fake Twitter handle @AkankshaSinghIN which was was created recently on October 17, 2020, a day after the NEET results were declared, uses the photo of Singh in its bio to lend credibility.
It has tweeted the two communal charged tweets on the same day which ask why only Aftab is being covered in the media and is this because of her religion. Interestingly, the fake handle has miss-spelled the word topper as 'toper' in the bio.
Click here to view an archive.
The first tweet when translated reads, "I topped the NEET exam and Shoaib Aftab also did, but only Soyeb's name has been covered in the media everywhere, what is my fault. Only that I am a girl and a Hindu ... ??? # NEETResult2020."
The second tweet reads, "I was never on social media, today I had to join social media with a very sad heart… Whatever happened to me, it is an injustice, I worked hard and I also succeeded."
Click here to view, and here for an archive.
We found several Twitter users falling for the fake account and outraging over the tweets.
Click here to view an archive.
"That is a fake account, she is not on Twitter or has any social media account," Singh's Father
BOOM reached out to Akanksha Singh's father Rajendra Kumar Rao who confirmed that the account (@AkankshaSinghIN) is fake and not of his daughter's. Rao further said that she is not on the social platform or any has any other social media account. He further stated that they have filed a complaint at their local police station.
"She is not on Twitter, that account is fake, and she is not on Instagram or any social media account. We have complained regarding this in our local police station in Kasia, Kushinagar, Uttar Pradesh that this is a fake account using her name," Rao told BOOM.
We also found a reply by Kushinagar Police who replied to a user who tagged them in the replies which when translated reads, "Cyber cell has been directed to investigate the case."
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