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Image credit: Twitter/Rahulmulnivasi7, Dhirendra Krishna Shastri/wikibio
Did Dhirendra Shastri's Sister Marry A Muslim & Converted To Islam? No, Viral Claim Is False
India, 27 Jun 2023 11:26 AM GMT | Updated 28 Jun 2023 9:03 AM GMT
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The Logical Indian fact check team verified the claim and found it false as the woman is Gehna Vasistha, an actress who embraced Islam and married Faizan Ansari, a YouTuber.
A picture showcasing a newly married couple wearing garland is doing rounds on social media. It is claimed that the photo shows a woman named Vandana Tiwari, the sister of Dhirendra Shastri of Bageshwar Dham. Further, it is claimed that she married a Muslim and converted to Islam.
A Twitter user shared the picture with a captivating Hindi caption that reads, "बागेश्वर धाम के धीरेंद्र शास्त्री लोगों का पर्चा देखते है और भारत को हिंदू राष्ट्र बनाने का दावा भी करते है लेकिन मजे की बात है कि उनकी धर्म बहन"वंदना तिवारी"अपने ब्राह्मण कुल का त्याग कर हिंदूधर्म को छोड़कर मुस्लिम युवक से निकाह कर रही है और बागेश्वर को कानों-कान खबर तक नहीं।"
(English translation: Dhirendra Shastri of Bageshwar Dham sees people's pamphlets and also claims to make India a Hindu nation, but it is interesting that his religious sister "Vandana Tiwari" is abandoning her Brahmin clan and leaving Hinduism and is marrying a Muslim youth. And Bageshwar is not even aware of it.) The photo was shared on June 13 and has garnered 17.5k views with over 300 retweets.
A Facebook user shared the photo on June 11 and wrote a Hindi caption, "और मजे की बात तो ये रही कि धीरेंद्र बाबा को कानों-कान खबर नहीं हुई कि उसकी धर्मबहन वंदना तिवारी अपना ब्राह्मण धर्म त्यागकर मुस्लिम धर्म अपनाकर मुसलमान के साथ निकाह करने जा रही है..."
(English translation: And the interesting thing is that Dhirendra Baba was not aware that his sister-in-law Vandana Tiwari is leaving her Brahmin religion and adopting Muslim religion and is going to marry a Muslim...)
The picture is viral with the same narration on Twitter and Facebook.
Claim:
The sister of Dhirendra Shastri of Bageshwar Dham married a Muslim and converted to Islam.
Fact Check:
The Logical Indian fact check team verified the claim and found it false as the woman is Gehna Vasistha, an actress who embraced Islam and married Faizan Ansari, a YouTuber.
We began our investigation by conducting a Google reverse image search on the viral picture leading us to a media report by India Today, published on June 11. It carried the viral photo as its cover and identified the woman as Gehna Vasistha.
According to the report, Vasistha is a television actress featured in Behenein and Gandii Baat. She has married Faizan Ansari, a social media influencer and actor recently seen on the reality show Datebaazi. She tied know in an intimate ceremony and has also converted to Islam. Further, the report noted that the photos from her nikah ceremony also went viral, which showed the two dressed as a newly married couple.
Another report by Hindustan Times published on June 11 mentions a source saying that Vasistha did not convert her religion for marriage but for her own personal choice. According to the report, she was arrested in 2021 in a porn case related to Raj Kundra and was later released on bail.
Other news portals, such as Zee News and Zoom, carried the same viral images identifying the woman as Gehna Vasistha.
Later, we also found a report by BBC published on January 24, which details Dhirendra Shastri, including his family. According to the report, Shastri has three siblings, of which he is the eldest, with a brother named Shaligram Garg and a sister named Rita Garg, who is married. It refutes the viral claim that her sister's name is Vandana Tiwari.
Further, the fact-check wing of Aaj Tak contacted the sister of Shastri, Rita Garg, and brother-in-law, Kamlesh Chauraha, who denied the viral claim saying that she is the only sister of Dhirendra Shastri. She married Kamlesh Chauraha, a Hindu Brahmin, on April 27, 2015.
Conclusion:
To sum up, photos from the marriage of Gehna Vasistha and Faizan Ansari are viral on social media to claim that the woman is Vandana Tiwari, the sister of Dhirendra Shastri of Bageshwar Dham, who married a Muslim and converted to Islam. However, the viral claim is false as Shastri has only one sister named Rita Garg, who was married to a Hindu Brahmin in 2015.
If you have any news that you believe needs to be fact-checked, please email us at factcheck@thelogicalindian.com or WhatsApp at 6364000343.
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