Fact Check: Did a Congress leader from Hyderabad marry his daughter? Old hoax resurfaces

India Today AFWA found that the claim Ayub Khan married his daughter has been on the internet for at least two years now. Khan is a gangster from Hyderabad and is serving a seven-year sentence in prison. He did not marry his daughter.

A shocking Facebook post about a supposed Congress Party member has been making the rounds. The text in the post claims Ayub Khan of Hyderabad married his daughter Tharnum Khan. It also contained the photo of a newspaper report whose headline said: “Muslim man married own daughter, impregnates her."

AFWA investigated the post and found it to be misleading. While the newspaper clipping is about a 2017 incident in West Bengal's Jalpaiguri, the claim about Ayub Khan marrying his daughter is an old hoax.

We found that the claim Ayub Khan married his daughter has been on the internet for at least two years now. Independent fact-checkers in 2020 called out a social media influencer, Tharnum Khan, for circulating the hoax.

On her Facebook account, she shared photos of herself in a bridal costume. The caption of the photos read, “Got Married with my Dad Ayub Khan. I’m nervous. I don’t have marriage experience.”

In fact, she changed the caption of the photos several times, finally settling on “White Attire”. She had tagged Ayub Khan to the post. But his Facebook profile was later deleted.

Scanning through her social media accounts, we also found several videos where she mentions her supposed relationships with public figures. In one such video she referred to herself as the wife of cricketer Virat Kohli.

According to media reports, Ayub Khan, also known as Ayub Pahelwan, is a wanted criminal and gangster from Hyderabad. Speaking to The Logical Indian in November 2020, Khan’s son said that his father had five sons and no daughters. This puts the claims about him marrying his daughter to rest.