An old picture of two girls drinking beer has gone viral with a false claim. A caption with the viral post claims that the picture is recent - clicked after liquor shops opened on May 4, 2020 - and the woman drinking beer is a BJP leader.
BOOM found out that the picture has been on internet since July 2019 and the claims are unrelated.
The viral post uses a set of two pictures showing two women, dressed in saffron kameez, drinking beer from disposable glasses. A Hindi caption with the post reads 'A woman BJP leader sums up the trend as liquor shops opened. Thank you Modi ji for opening the liquor shops'.
(Hindi: ठेके खुलते ही बीजेपी नेत्री का पहला रुझान आया धन्यवाद मोड़ी जी ठेके खुलवाने के लिए |)
In view of the ongoing pan-India lockdown, liquor shops all over the country have remained shut since March 24. Relaxing the lockdown restrictions last week, the ministry of Home Affairs had allowed the opening of liquor shops all across the country from May 4, the third phase of lockdown. Images and videos showing serpentine queues outside liquour store have hogged news space over the past 48 hours. However, the ministry had appealed to the people to strictly follow the social distancing guidelines while purchasing alcohol. Read more about the opening of alcohol shops here.
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Since the viral post uses images of women in a false context, BOOM decided against sharing the image on its page. You can view the post here and access its archived version here.
The same set of images with similar caption is viral from several Twitter handles as well.
Fact Check
BOOM did a reverse image search and found that the same set of images were viral on social media in July 2019.
Back then, the images had been shared with a Hindi caption that reads 'Female monks on kaawad yatra drinking alcohol. Kingfisher brand. Come on, now don't say that this is beer'.
(Hindi: कावड यात्रा पर निकली साधुयी | रास्ते मे सोम रस पिते हुई..!! किंगफिशर ब्रांडेड ... अब कोई यह मत कहना कि बियर पी रही हैं )
Kawad yatra is an annual procession taken out by devotees of lord Shiva wherein they go to pilgrim places like Haridwar and Gaumukh to fetch water from river Ganga. This water is later poured as offerings in the local Shiva temples.
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BOOM, however, could not verify where the pictures were actually taken but we were able to ascertain that the picture is not recent and it has nothing to do with the opening of liquor shops during the relaxation in current lockdown.