Edited Pic Shared to Claim Azam Khan Shaved His Head After Mulayam Singh's Death

The photo was taken in June 2022 and it shows Azam Khan at a Delhi hospital.

The original photo dates back to 1 June 2022, when Khan was hospitalised in Delhi.

(Source: Twitter/Altered by The Quint)

A photo showing Samajwadi Party (SP) leader Azam Khan with a shaved head has gone viral on social media, where users are linking it to the death of SP patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav.

In certain Hindu communities, when a person passes away, the male members of the family shave their heads as a sign of bereavement after the last rites are completed.

However, the photo is edited. The original photograph – which was also shared by Samajwadi Party's Akhilesh Yadav on Twitter – was taken in June 2022 and it shows the leader at a hospital in Delhi, where he was admitted due to multiple health issues.

CLAIM

The photograph is being shared with the text in Hindi, which loosely translates to, "Friendship has broken down all walls of religion, I am speechless. Long live the honourable Azam Khan sir. May the respected leader be immortal."

An archive of this post can be accessed here.

(Source: Twitter/Screenshot)

Archives of more posts sharing the photo with the same claim can be seen here, here, and here.

WHAT WE FOUND OUT

We ran a reverse image search on the photograph, which led us to an article published by The Indian Express on 2 June 2022. The image showed Khan along with Akhilesh Yadav.

The report was published in June 2022, four months before Mulayam Singh Yadav's demise.

(Source: The Indian Express/Altered by The Quint) 

This report mentioned that Khan was hospitalised in Delhi due to health issues such as hypertension and was visited by Yadav.

We found the same photo on Yadav's verified Twitter account, which was shared on 1 June 2022, and the caption read, "Wishing for good health, get well soon and return!"

On comparing these photos to the one in the viral claim, we saw a few elements which confirmed that they were the same.

Some background elements match in both photos.

(Source: Twitter/Altered by The Quint)

Behind Khan, one can see a person's mask on the right side, and a drip on the left side.

We did not come across any recent photographs or news reports stating that Khan had shaved his head after Mulayam Singh Yadav's death.

Clearly, an old and edited photo of Azam Khan is being shared with the claim that he shaved his head after Yadav's demise.

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