Cape Town: Indian opening batsman Shikhar Dhawan on Friday slammed the Emirates Airlines for not allowing his wife and kids to catch the connecting flight from Dubai to South Africa.

Dhawan and his India cricket team members touched South African soil in the morning. India will play three Tests, six One-Day Internationals (ODIs) and three Twenty20 Internationals (T20Is).

Dhawan alleged that Emirates Airlines didn't notify about producing birth certificates or identification proofs of the 32-year-old player's wife Aesha Mukherjee and their two kids.

"Absolutely unprofessional from @emirates. Was on my way 2 SA with my fam & was told tht my wife and kids can't board the flight from Dubai to SA. Was asked to produce birth certificates & other documents fr my kids at the airport which we obviously didn't have at that moment," Dhawan said on Twitter.

"They are now at Dubai airport waiting for the documents to arrive. Why didn't @emirates notify about such a situation when we were boarding the plane from Mumbai? One of the emirates' employee was being rude for no reason at all."

On its part, the airline said that it was merely complying with the South African laws. 

"We note that the family was not able to continue their journey together as planned. We regret any inconvenience caused. However, since June 1, 2015, according to South African regulations, anyone travelling to the country with a minor under 18 needs to prove parenthood or guardianship -- while adults travelling alone with their children need to show that they have the consent of their non-travelling partner," said an Emirates spokesperson. 

"Like all airlines, we must comply with the laws of every country in which we operate and this is a shared responsibility with passengers, who are required to hold valid travel documents for all countries on their itinerary."

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Claim: A Muslim youth is the perpetrator of the attack on a tribal man in Wayanad who was dragged by a car on the road.

Fact: The claim is misleading. The accused in the case includes members of Muslim and Hindu communities.

Hyderabad: Controversy erupted in Wayanad, Kerala, after the body of Chundamma, an 80-year-old tribal woman, was carried to her funeral in an autorickshaw because an ambulance was not available.

Another disturbing event followed the incident in Chemmad in Kerala where a tribal man was dragged on the road for half a kilometre. An alleged video of the incident has been circulating on social media, with the claim that mainstream media is silent about the incident because the alleged accused in the incident is a Muslim, and it occurred in Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi’s constituency.

The video shows a person being dragged by the passenger of a moving red Maruti Celerio car, which eventually stops at a distance.

An X user shared the video and wrote, “Mainstream media is silent because, Muhammad Riyas (Muslim) in Wayanad Dragged Tribal Youth by Car in Brutal Assault – Priyanka Gandhi is busy pli-stains but not on this Incident in Her Constituency.. (sic)” ( Archive )

Fact Check

NewsMeter found that the claim is misleading. The accused in the case belong to both Muslim and Hindu communities.

A reverse image search led us to a report by The Hindu published on December 16, 2024. It was titled ‘Tribal man dragged by Car in Kerala’s Wayanad, police register case’. It contained a screen grab of the viral video, featuring the red car and the man being dragged along its side.

The report stated that the victim, 49-year-old Mathan, a resident of the Chemmad tribal hamlet, suffered severe injuries to his arms and legs and is currently undergoing treatment at the Government Medical College Hospital in Mananthavady. The incident happened in Wayanad, which is Priyanka Gandhi’s constituency.

According to the report, the police have identified the car’s owner as Muhammad Riyas, a resident of Malappuram’s Kuttipuram, through vehicle documents. However, the report also stated that it is unclear if Muhammad Riyas was driving at the time of the incident, with eyewitnesses reporting that five people were in the vehicle.

Further, a keyword search uncovered a report by Mathrubhumi on December 18, 2024, titled ‘Lookout notice issued for two accused in Wayanad tribal youth dragging case’.

According to the report, two individuals, Abhiram K Sujith (23) and Muhammad Arshid (25), both from Pachilakkad, have been arrested in connection with the case. The report stated that Abhiram and Arshid were remanded to the Special Court in Mananthavady, which handles cases under the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.

Additionally, the police have issued lookout notices for two more suspects: TP Nabeel Kamar (25) and K Vishnu, residents of Panamaram in Wayanad.

We found several other reports, including from the Deccan Chronicle and The Indian Express, which also stated that Muhammed Arshad and Abhiram S were arrested in the incident, and the police are now searching for Nabeel and Vishnu. None of the reports mentioned a communal motive behind the incident.

Therefore, the claim that a Muslim youth was responsible for the assault on the tribal man in Wayanad is misleading. The accused in the case include members from both Muslim and Hindu communities.

(This story was originally published by News Meter, and republished by english.varthabharati.in as part of the Shakti Collective)