"Arrest Bill Gates" trended on Twitter over the weekend for the reportedly illegal testing of vaccines on tribal girls in India.

News outlets also posted about the claim, alleging the fourth richest person in the world might be facing trial for the said crime.

People Calling Out Authorities to Arrest Bill Gates

According to several Twitter users and news outlets, Bill Gates and his foundation, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, funded an NGO to do trials for HPV vaccine in over 14,000 Tribal girls in 2009.

These girls were from southern India's Telangana, in its fourth-largest city, Khammam.

The HPV vaccines being tested were reportedly from Merck, the "Gardasil," and GlaxoSmithKline for "Cervarix."

The trial was supposed to determine if the vaccines were effective against HPV, also known as Human papillomavirus, the most common sexually transmitted infection in the US.

However, news reports claimed that the trial was unauthorized and illegal.

The girls recruited to be part of the clinical trial were all said to be underage, with girls ages ranging from 10 to 14.

Bill Gates' NGO also reportedly failed to get the tribal girls' approval to use their kids to be the test subjects of these vaccines.

Unfortunately, the parents weren't informed of the possible risk of the vaccine, so many of the recruited girls suffered from several symptoms, including headaches, fatigue, stomachaches, and giddiness.

Additionally, these girls also suffered from "early onset of menstruation" as well as "heavy bleeding."

Reports also said that there was no follow-up or constant monitoring of the girls vaccinated with the HPV prevention.

Spokesperson for the Gates Foundation Releases Statement

According to Reuters, the articles posted by several outlets and Twitter trends are all misleading.

A spokesperson for the Gates Foundation confirmed to the outlet that the allegations are false and that there is no pending lawsuit against the Microsoft founder nor his foundation.

They also claimed that the clinical vaccine trial in question was not illegal. However, it was stopped later, which also prompted a source of controversy in India.

In 2010, the study was cancelled because local media reports highlighted the death of seven girls that were part of the trial.

There was an investigation that a committee carried out by the Indian Government. However, it was later determined that the girls' causes of death were not related to the HPV vaccine trial.

Per ScienceMag.org, the first girl died from drowning; the second died from a snake bite; two girls committed suicide; while another died from malaria.

Additionally, in 2013, the Standing Committee on Health and Family Welfare claimed that the clinical trial by Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation's NGO named PATH had committed several irregularities, including gross violation of the consent and legal requirement of support.

Their foundation released a statement saying they strongly disagree with the prior's report.

But as of writing, there's no arrest warrant or pending lawsuit for Bill Gates in India. His foundation continues to work in the country up to this day.

DISCLAIMER: The accuracy of the statements are yet to be verified. Bill Gates has not yet commented on the issue.

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