Old image from Yemen shared as Dalit boy beaten up in Rajasthan

The viral image is from 2020 and it depicts a boy who was injured in a domestic abuse incident with his father in Yemen.

A collage of two disturbing images showing a young boy with whip-like marks on his back and legs is going viral on social media with a claim that it shows a Dalit boy was assaulted in Rajasthan’s Jhunjhunu district for touching a pot of water. The post contains an image alongside a screenshot of an India TV news report with this incident.

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Fact Check- 

We started our investigation by running a reverse image search on Google, whose results led us to a news story published by Yemeni media outlet on October 5, 2020 featuring a similar image. As per report, “Local sources in Al Mahwit Governorate revealed that the police in the Ar Rujum district of the governorate arrested the accused “Rashid Muhammad Al-Qahili”, 40 years old, for committing the crime of torturing his son “Shamikh Rashid Al-Qahili”, 14 years old.

The name of the child in the picture is Shamikh Rashid Al-Qahili. The news reports that this incident took place in Yemen on October 3, 2020. This is a picture of the child being beaten by his father Rashid Mohammed. The report says that the child was beaten after his hands and feet were tied. The news reports that the police reached the scene and freed the child and took action against the father. 

  The Yemeni government issued a press release stating that action had been taken against the father who brutally beat the child:

Next, we conducted further searches for  India TV report featured in the viral posts. The report states an incident in which Chiman Lal Meghwal, a Dalit tractor driver, was allegedly assaulted by a brick kiln owner in Pacheri Kalan, Jhunjhunu district, Rajasthan, for touching a water pot. According to the report, kiln owner Vinod Yadav allegedly kicked Meghwal when he tried to drink water. Yadav, along with two others, reportedly abducted Meghwal, took him to Rewari in the neighbouring state of Haryana, beat him with a belt, and demanded Rs. 1.5 lakh from his family for his release. While Meghwal stated he was attacked for drinking water, the report also mentions that police investigations are ongoing. The India TV report includes a video of the injured victim. While the footage is slightly blurred, it does not match the boy shown in the viral images. 

So, we can understand that the viral image is not recent and it is unrelated to the incident. The viral image of a boy with severe injuries on his back and legs is from a 2020 incident in Yemen involving child abuse by his father. 

Conclusion- 

Fact Crescendo found that the claim made along with the viral image to be Misleading. The viral image is from 2020 and it depicts a boy who was injured in a domestic abuse incident with his father in Yemen.