Video of a boy being forced to drink water from a shoe does not have caste angle
Claim
The plight of the Dalit community in India continues to be a cause for concern, as incidents of caste-based discrimination and violence continue to occur with alarming frequency.
Rating
Explanation
A video clip of a youth being forced to drink water from a shoe is shared widely with the claim that he belongs to the Dalit community and caste-based discrimination continues to occur in India. This post is viral for the last few years with the same claim. Some of the posts can be seen here and here.
What is the truth?
When searching with relevant keywords on Twitter, we found a tweet dated 16, June 2020 with the viral video and another video mentioning it as “Video of a man forced to drink urine goes viral. He is also being beaten up by several people. Language and clothes indicate it is from the Sirohi district and the Rebari community. The badly beaten up boy is seen being forced to drink water from a shoe in yet another video.”
The badly beaten up boy is seen being forced to drink water from a shoe in yet another video. @fpjindia @PoliceRajasthan #Rajasthan #Atrocity pic.twitter.com/DyMqp62XjZ
— Dr Sangeeta Pranvendra (@sangpran) June 16, 2020
Another tweet by Delhiite dated 16, June 2020 is found carrying an article by Free Press Journal while mentioning the incident related to the viral video.
Free Press Journal article reported the cause of the incident as a love affair between a boy and girl from the same community and same village. The community elders found it, a panchayat was called and decided to punish the boy by beating him and making him drink urine, and water from a shoe.
The incident is said to have happened in June 2018. The article further identifies the people carrying out the punishment order in the video as the members of the boy’s caste panchayat. The panchayat leaders filmed the video and shared it on social media as a warning to other youths of their community which is identified as the Rebari community, a nomadic community of cattle rearers, found in the area.
Times of India reported that the victim is from Sirohi, Rajasthan and he was punished for going against community laws by having an affair with a girl. The article mentions that Sumerpur police registered a case against community panchayats and detained 6 persons.
There are still several incidents happening against Dalits in the name of caste discrimination in India. But this particular video has nothing to do with casteism.
Conclusion
It is found that an old video of a boy being punished for having affair with a girl from the same community is falsely shared as a Dalit youth being tortured in the name of caste discrimination.
