Fact-check: Man accused of stealing peacock has been sentenced to 10 years?

Facebook posts falsely claim that a young man arrested after the May 9 riots, for stealing a peacock from the Corps Commander House in Lahore, has been convicted to 10 years imprisonment.

Claim

On May 26, a Facebook user posted a photo montage of politicians from the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, who have recently quit the party, and wrote that young men have ruined their lives for these people.

“It didn’t take these [politicians] more than a day to reach a deal with the establishment,” the user further wrote, “While a student who stole a peacock will spend 10 years in jail.”

The Facebook post had been liked over 70 times, at the time of writing.

The identical text was shared on Twitter as well, which has been viewed over 20,000 times.

Fact

Two senior police officers, privy to the developments, have confirmed to Geo Fact Check that the man, who has been accused of stealing a peacock from a top military official’s residence, is still under investigation and has not been convicted.

Mubashir Hassan, the public relations officer of the inspector general police Punjab, said over the phone that while Abdullah has been arrested, his case is still being investigated.

“Court proceedings have not yet started,” he explained, adding that those claiming Abdullah has been sentenced to ten years behind bars are “wrong”.

Geo Fact Check also reached out to Waqas Haider, the spokesperson of the deputy inspector general investigation in Lahore.

“For now only the process of identification is going on,” Haider wrote on WhatsApp, “He [Abdullah] is in judicial custody at Camp Jail, Lahore, for an identification parade.”

With additional reporting by Muhammad Binyameen Iqbal

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