That the uprising was started by women is corroborated by other, older sources as well,[1] and is not a misportrayal by the BBC. That Cheran is populated by the indigenous Purépecha people is also supported by other sources, including the Mexican legal system that upheld the town's autonomy. I cannot find anything else in the article that would support what you are saying. Can you provide some quotations?
Look at the photos in the article. See how it is mostly men but they focus on the one woman in the big group of men? You have to be very suggestible to buy such an obviously conjured narrative.
There are 8 photos in the article (not including the map); women are shown in 4 of those; there is exactly 1 photo where they focus on one woman at the front of a line in a parade (with multiple lines). To put that in perspective, there is also 1 photo that focuses on a man surrounded by men and women.
There are also 2 photos of one woman each, but they were just two of the people who were interviewed (and one of them was an instigator of the revolt). There no conjured narrative here that I can see. If every other source were saying that there were no women involved in the revolt, and the BBC were inserting women into the story, then it would be a conjured narrative, but that is not what is happening here.
1. https://www.wired.com/2013/05/cheran-uprising/