Boy Dancing On Folk Song Is Not Inder Meghwal, Who Allegedly Died After Being Slapped By Teacher

On August 13, Inder Meghwal, a nine-year-old Dalit child from Surana village of Rajasthan's Jalore district, passed away after allegedly being beaten up by his teacher for touching a pot of water.

In the same backdrop, a video is viral on social media where a child can be seen dancing to a Rajasthani folk song. While sharing this video, people on social media claimed that the boy in the viral video is Indra Meghwal, the 9-year-old Dalit student who died after being beaten up by a teacher in Jalore, Rajasthan. People also claimed that the viral video clip was recorded a few days before his death.

A Twitter user shared this video and wrote a caption which reads, "India: Lower Caste Hindu boy seen dancing in older video was beaten to death by Upper Caste teacher because he drank water from the common pot".

Another user wrote, "The dancing boy is Inder Meghwal from jalore who is beaten and killed by his own teacher RIP #JusticeForInderMeghwal.

A Facebook user wrote, "इस मासूम की प्रतिभा अब कभी नजर नहीं आएगी, वीडियो पिटाई से कुछ दिन पहले का ही है जब इंद्र कुमार मेघवाल ने स्कूल में प्रस्तुति दी थी."

[English Translation": Will not be able to witness this genius kid's talent again. The video is from a few days before the assault when Inder Kumar Meghwal gave a performance in the school.]

It is being widely shared on Facebook and Twitter with similar claims.

The Logical Indian received several messages on our WhatsApp fact check no. +91-6364000343 requesting to fact check the claim.

Screengrabs of a request received on the TLI WhatsApp fact check number

Claim:

A viral video shows Inder Kumar Meghwal dancing, who died after being beaten up by his teacher for touching a pot of water.

Fact Check:

The Logical Indian fact check team verified the viral claim and found it to be false. The boy in the video is Harish Bhil from Barmer, Rajasthan.

During the initial investigation, many people commented on the video and mentioned that the video is not related to Inder Meghwal.

On doing a keyword search on Facebook, we found a post in which it was told that the child in the video is a student of GUPS Gomrakh Dham. The post also contained a screenshot of the video uploaded by a user named 'Tr Chela Ram Raika' dated 30 July. The post's caption reads, "Dance performance by class II student Harish in a cultural program organised under 'No Bag Day on Saturday."

Taking a hint from it, we did an open keyword search and found the extended version of the viral video uploaded on the Facebook page of GUPS Gomrakh Dham school, dated 30 July. The video's caption reads in English, "Brilliant performance given by class 2 student Harish on 'No Bag Day' initiative.

In further investigation, we called up the number given on the Facebook page of GUPS Gomarkha Dham and spoke to a teacher Tukraj Bhati. While speaking to The Logical Indian, he told us the video was from his school. "The child in the video is Harish Bhil and is in class 2. He was performing a song during a cultural program organised on the occasion of 'No Bag Day'. It has nothing to do with the death of the Dalit boy Inder Kumar Meghwal," said the teacher.

It is evident from our investigation that the viral video is of a Harish Bhil from Barmer, Rajasthan, who gave this performance on the occasion of 'No Bag Day'. It is being falsely shared by linking it to the death of Indra Kumar Meghwal. Hence, the viral claim is false.

If you have any news that you believe needs to be fact-checked, please email us at factcheck@thelogicalindian.com or WhatsApp at 6364000343.

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