Peerumade: A death hoax can unsettle one and all for quite a while. The predicament of the person whose death announcement was falsely made cannot be easily described. A 60-year-old local politician in Peerumade in Kerala's hilly Idukki district is now deluged by condolences and homage after his adult son announced his death on social media on Saturday morning.
The one behind the prank is the eldest son of the 'deceased'. The 34-year-old aptly included the wordings “RIP” and “I miss you” with the photo of his father as he posted the obit on Facebook.
It was from a WhatsApp message received by his younger son that the Congress leader came to know about the public announcement about his “death”.
The unfortunate hoax victim is a former member of the local self-government body; hence well-known with a wide circle of well-wishers.
As the death news spread,relatives, friends, and colleagues had begun to send condolences. One of the first messages of condolence was from Idukki District Congress Committee president C P Mathew.
Calls were made even from abroad to the phones of family members and the Congress leader enquiring about the cause of death and details about the funeral. Relatives hinted that the son took the drastic step following domestic disputes with his father.
The father initially considered filing a complaint with the police against his son for posting the fake news. However, after discussions with members of his family, he decided to pardon his son.
The son, who is employed in another district, claimed that someone had hacked his Facebook account and posted the message of his father’s death.
5 years’ jail for defamation
Under the Information Technology Act, posting of defamatory comments on Facebook is an offence attracting a punishment of 5 years in jail and a fine of Rs 1 lakh.
