False Claim: Old Yemen Image Shared as Dalit Boy Beaten in Rajasthan

A viral post on social media features images of a young boy with severe whip-like marks on his back and legs. The accompanying text claims that the boy is a Dalit child from Rajasthan who was brutally beaten after drinking water from a pot. It further alleges that his attackers later demanded ₹1.5 lakh from his family for his release. The post links the incident to caste-based violence in Rajasthan’s Jhunjhunu district.

Multiple other users were found sharing the posts on Facebook and X, which can be viewed here and here.

Fact Check

Upon investigation, this claim was found to be false.

Verification of the Incident in Rajasthan:

• The viral post includes a screenshot from an India TV news report. A review of this report, dated January 21, 2025, reveals that the case it describes does involve caste-based violence but is unrelated to the viral images. According to the report, the actual victim was Chiman Lal Meghwal, a Dalit tractor driver from Pacheri Kalan, Jhunjhunu district, Rajasthan.
• Meghwal was allegedly assaulted by a brick kiln owner, Vinod Yadav, for touching a water pot. He was later abducted and taken to Rewari, Haryana, where he was beaten and a ransom of ₹1.5 lakh was demanded from his family. While Meghwal did claim he was attacked for drinking water, the police investigation was still ongoing at the time of the report.

Mismatch Between the Images and the Incident:

The India TV report includes a video of Meghwal, which, although slightly blurred, does not match the boy in the viral images. A separate NDTV Rajasthan report also featured the same video, confirming that the viral photographs were not related to the Rajasthan case.

Origin of the Viral Images:

A reverse image search traced the viral photos back to a report by Alnabba, a Yemeni media outlet, published on October 5, 2020. The report identified the boy as Shamikh Rashid Al-Qahili, a 14-year-old from Al Mahwit, Yemen. The boy was subjected to extreme physical abuse by his father, Rashid Muhammad Al-Qahili, who tied him up and beat him with wires and whips. The father was later arrested, and the child was provided with medical care. A similar report was published by Yemen Now News on October 6, 2020, confirming the incident.

Additionally, Yemen’s Ministry of Interior released a statement on October 5, 2020, verifying the father’s arrest and legal proceedings.

Conclusion

The viral claim that a Dalit boy in Rajasthan was beaten for drinking water and that the accompanying images are from this incident is false. The real incident in Rajasthan involved a Dalit tractor driver, Chiman Lal Meghwal, but the images used in the post are from an unrelated case in Yemen from 2020, involving child abuse by a father. The misinformation falsely links an unrelated tragedy to an actual case of caste-based violence, misleading the public.