Coronavirus COVID-19: Woman throws 5 children into river due to lockdown? UP PIB's fact check

Representational image (File pic)

In a shocking development, a woman in Bhadohi district of Uttar Pradesh allegedly threw her five children into the Ganga after a heated argument with her husband.

The incident grabbed headlines after rumours started circulating on social media that the women threw her children in the river because she failed to arrange food for them due to the 21-day nationwide lockdown announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on March 24 to curb the spread of coronavirus COVID-19 outbreak.

Uttar Pradesh Press Information Bureau has tweeted a video in which the woman identified as Manju Yadav can be seen confessing on camera that she did not throw the children in river due to scarcity of food. The woman also admitted that she had an argument with her husband and she took the extreme step out of anger.

#PIBFactCheck
मीडिया में आ रही खबर कि लॉकडाउन के दौरान भुखमरी के कारण भदोही में एक महिला ने पांच बच्चों को गंगा नदी में फेंका, गलत है। सम्बन्धित महिला मंजू देवी का बयान।@DG_PIB@PIBFactCheck @DM_Bhadohi @myogiadityanath @PIBHindi pic.twitter.com/SChzUgGhay — PIB in Uttar Pradesh (@PibLucknow) April 13, 2020

According to Uttar Pradesh police, the accused and her husband Mridul Yadav have been quarelling over family issues for a long time and they had a heated argument on Saturday night too after which Manju threw her five children into the river.

It is learnt that the women threw her three daughters and two sons in the river near Jahangirabad ghat, where the water level is quite deep. Police has launched massive operation to search for the missing children.