India’s election commission said it had not recorded any cases of voter fraud involving prosthetic fingers, contrary to social media posts that baselessly accused Muslims in West Bengal state of wearing fake fingers to cast multiple votes. The posts, which surfaced as Indians voted in national elections, in fact show photos of prosthetic fingers for former gangsters in Japan.
“Look at the fake voting system in West Bengal,” reads a Hindi-language Facebook post shared on April 30, 2024.
“There is very little these Muslims won’t do. After casting their vote once, they vote again and again by wearing a fake finger to hide the ink on their finger.”
Like in many countries, Indians get a dab of ink on their index finger after casting their ballot to prevent multiple voting.
Nearly a billion people are voting to elect a new government in six-week-long parliamentary polls that started on April 19, the largest democratic exercise in the world.
Analysts have widely expected Prime Minister Narendra Modi to win a third term in office, in large part thanks to his championing of the country’s Hindu majority faith.
Modi’s critics have accused his government of marginalising India’s 200-million-strong Muslim population.
Similar posts circulated on Facebook here and here and on X, formerly Twitter.
Baseless allegations that prosthetic fingers were used to commit voter fraud previously spread during India’s 2019 election.
Indian election commission spokesman Anuj Chandak said there was still no truth in the rumour.
“The claim is false and no such incident has come to our knowledge yet. The Election Commission is engaged in conducting voting with complete security,” he told AFP on May 3.
The election commission also posted a statement on X refuting the allegation (archived link).
Japanese gangsters
A reverse image search found one of the photos of prosthetic fingers shared in the posts on the website of Japanese-American journalist Akiko Fujita (archived link).
The article from December 16, 2013 is headlined: “Prosthetic fingers help reform former Yazuka members”.
In the Japanese mob, known as the yazuka, chopping off a little finger is a rite to atone for their betrayal or defeat in turf battles.
Below is a screenshot comparison of the photo falsely linked to India’s election (left) and on Fujita’s website (right):
According to Fujita’s article, the fingers were made by prosthetics specialist Shintaro Hayashi.
AFP reported on Hayashi’s work drawing unexpected customers in ex-yazuka who lost their fingers doing organised crime and vowed to integrate back into civilian life.
His silicone fingers are so delicate that he even implants individual hairs taken from his subjects’ hands and arms to give each finger a really lifelike look, AFP reported.
The second photo of prosthetic fingers shared in the posts was taken from a video report about Hayashi’s work by Australia’s ABC News from June 6, 2013 (archived link).
Below is a screenshot comparison of the photo shared in false posts (left) in ABC News’s report (right):
AFP has fact-checked more misinformation around India’s election here.
