Old image from Assam falsely linked to Muslim man marrying daughter-in-law in UP’s Deoria; Fact Check
A video is being share on social media with a claim a 70-year-old Muslim man married his daughter-in-law after his son’s death.
The claim says, “In Uttar Pradesh’s Deoria district, Mohammad Shakeel, a resident, could not bear to see his daughter-in-law in widow’s clothes and married her. It had been five days since his son died.”
उत्तर प्रदेश के देवरिया जिले के रहने वाले #मोहम्मद शकील से अपनी बहु को विधवा के कपड़ो में देखा नहीं गया और उसने अपनी बहु से निकाह कर लिया।
बेटे को मरे पांच दिन हुए थे pic.twitter.com/VGY4OSiHIK— ठाकुर साहब (@narpat_rat18280) July 11, 2025
Another similar claim can be seen here, shared by @Warlock_Shubh on July 12, 2025, states that the man, named Mohammad Shakeel from Deoria district in Uttar Pradesh, married his daughter-in-law merely five days after the death of his son. The post is also accompanied by an image showing an elderly man with a much younger woman dressed as a bride, seen typically in any wedding.
FACT-CHECK
When Digiteye India team checked for the original image based on Google Reverse Image Search, we found that it was a seven-year-old image often shared with such claims of an old man marrying a younger bride.
Originally, it was posted on YouTube channel named Breaking News on November 7, 2017, showing the same visuals under the Hindi title: “70 साल के बुड्ढे ने 40 साल छोटी लड़की से की शादी” (Translation: 70-year-old man marries girl 40 years younger).
Posted on Nov 7, 2017 by “Breaking News” TouTube Channel with a title in Hindi as: “70 साल के बुड्ढे ने 40 साल छोटी लड़की से की शादी वायरल हो रही तस्वीर का लोगों ने ऐसे उड़ाया मजाक” [Translated into English, it reads: 70 year old man getting married to 40 year old girl goes viral].
The video identified man in the viral photograph was identified as Rajesh Kumar, a businessman from Assam. As per the news reports shown below, Kumar married the young woman following the death of his wife. However, there is no communal angle nor any reference to Deoria’s resident Mohammad Shakeel. Further, we found no news reports, FIRs, or any local coverage from Deoria, Uttar Pradesh to confirm any such wedding of Mohammad Shakeel.
Hence, the old viral image is not recent and has no connection to Mohammad Shakeel, Deoria district, as claimed. In fact, this an increasing pattern where unrelated visuals are repurposed with communal or inflammatory narratives.
Claim: Mohammad Shakeel from Deoria, UP, married his daughter-in-law after his son’s death, instead of mourning.
Conclusion: Misrepresentation. The image is seven years old, from Assam where a businessman reportedly married a bride who was 40 years younger to him.
Rating: Misrepresentation — 
