Authors
Vaibhav is a part of Newschecker’s English team, where he spots and debunks all kinds of misinformation, making the rounds on the internet. A Journalism graduate from St. Xavier's College, Mumbai, he holds an M.A degree in Philosophy and an M.Phil from Delhi University.
A birthday celebration that went wrong- that’s the context in which a video, claiming to show the birthday boy’s demise, is being widely shared on social media. The video shows four youngsters celebrating the birthday of their friend, smudging cake on his face, and kicking him, administering the birthday ritual commonly called ‘birthday bumps’.
It is being claimed that the birthday boy died due to the ‘violent act’. But a fact check by Newschecker has found that the video is scripted.
This claim is going viral on Twitter, with one of the posts garnering 523 retweets and 469 likes. Newschecker also received the same video in our WhatsApp helpline (+91 9999499044) to be fact checked.
A search on Youtube regarding the video showed multiple results with over thousand views.
One of the videos in question is below
Fact Check/Verification
Newschecker team investigated the viral video in question. However, no news about this video was found in the mainstream media.
Newschecker found a longer version of the video on Facebook and found the following disclaimer at the end of the video :-
Another message at the end of the video thanks the viewers for watching the video and clarifies that it is a scripted video shot for creating awareness.
Newschecker further attempted to trace the original source of the video by using Google Reverse Image search, and found that the video had been uploaded to the Facebook page of an actor, Hamsa Nandini, which can be seen here. The post says, “Don’t celebrate like this . Thanks for watching! Please note that this page also has scripted drama and parody. These shots are for educational purposes only!.”
The Facebook page also carries similar awareness videos
Conclusion
The viral video that shows a birthday boy collapsing and dying during his birthday celebration is scripted and not real.
Result: Misleading
Our Sources
Youtube
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Authors
Vaibhav is a part of Newschecker’s English team, where he spots and debunks all kinds of misinformation, making the rounds on the internet. A Journalism graduate from St. Xavier's College, Mumbai, he holds an M.A degree in Philosophy and an M.Phil from Delhi University.
