Following a disturbing incident from UP where a 17-year-old lost his life in suicide, a claim has been widely shared. A claim is being circulated that “A minor Dalit boy named Aditya died by suicide after allegedly facing severe caste-based discrimination and harassment in his village in Basti, Uttar Pradesh.”
The Dalit Observer Post shared a news stating, “A minor Dalit boy named Aditya died by suicide after allegedly facing severe caste-based discrimination and harassment in his village in Basti, Uttar Pradesh. “
Following this, multiple users on Twitter also shared a similar claim which can be viewed here and here.
Fact Check
On investigation, we found the claim to be False. According to a Hindustan Times report, it stated, “A 17-year-old Dalit boy allegedly died by suicide after facing brutal violence and humiliation by a group of teenagers of the same caste during a birthday bash in UP’s Basti district. ”
Furthermore, the report confirmed that CO (Sadar) SB Tiwari said that the dispute stemmed from a past incident of eve-teasing, and all the accused and the deceased were of the same caste.
We also verified this with the official account of Basti Police on X, where they shared a video of Superintendent of Police Basti clarifying that Kaptanganj Station Officer DK Dubey had been suspended, and an inquiry was initiated against other staff for not acting on the family’s complaint. The SP also confirmed that both the victim and the accused belonged to the same community.
Also, the DFRAC Team contacted ASP Basti on a call where he clarified that both the accused and victim belong to the same community.
Conclusion
Thus from the fact-check, it is evident that the viral claim of caste-based discrimination in the Kaptanganj suicide case is misleading, as both the victim and the accused belonged to the same community.
