Did Sadhvi Pragya say, "Manohar Parrikar died because he didn't respect cow"?

A misleading article, showing Sadhvi Pragya Thakur in poor light, published by controversial website, IndiaScoops, has gone viral.

The article claims that Sadhvi Pragya, who is the Bharatiya Janata Party’s candidate from Bhopal for Lok Sabha polls, said that ‘former Goa chief minister Manohar Parrikar died of cancer because he allowed the consumption of beef in the state. He didn’t respect Gau Mata. I was cured of breast cancer because I was regularly drinking gaumutra’.

The article adds that the Sadhvi said that if the BJP comes to power at the Centre again, it would ban beef in Goa and the North-East.

Link to the dubious article

However, a thorough check on the Internet of statements made by Sadhvi Pragya the Internet and discussion with sources covering the Sadhvi’s campaign shows there is no video or any information shows no video or any other material to corroborate the article’s assertions attributed to the Sadhvi.

Neither has any print or online publication or any TV channel has carried such news. At a time, when each and every word that the Sadhvi speaks is being picked up and scrutinized by hordes of channels, it is impossible they would miss out on such flagrant statements.

The website in question, IndiaScoops, is notorious for having published and peddled fake news earlier too. It has been called out multiple times for spreading totally baseless and concocted theories as ‘news’. Even a seasoned journalist like Swati Chaturvedi fell for this article and tweeted it. Later, she deleted her tweet after someone pointed out to her that it is fake news.

Sadhvi Pragya has been in the eye of storm of late after she made controversial remarks about former Anti-Terrorist Squad chief Hemant Karkare, who died during Mumbai attack in 2008. But she certainly cannot be held guilty for bogus statements attributed to her by a dubious website.