Authors
Pankaj Menon is a fact-checker based out of Delhi who enjoys ‘digital sleuthing’ and calling out misinformation. He has completed his MA in International Relations from Madras University and has worked with organisations like NDTV, Times Now and Deccan Chronicle online in the past.
Claim
Youth kills himself in wake of over government’s newly announced Agnipath scheme
Find the archive link here
Fact check/Verification
To verify the authenticity of the image, Newschecker conducted a keyword search on Hindi text that was seen on the newspaper clipping using the Google Lens tool. Several search results came up dated April 29, 2020 indicating that the incident was from April. They can be read them here, here and here.
On checking the details mentioned in the reports, we found them to be a match. The youth in question was identified as 23-year-old Pavan, a resident of Bhiwani in Haryana. He dreamt of joining the Army from a young age and had attempted to clear the test to join the Army on multiple occasions without success. On account of him having surpassed the age limit for the Army, he killed himself by suicide, and wrote on the same track where he ran “Bapu (father), I couldn’t be a soldier in this life, but I will be on in the next life.”
We also found an interview of Pavan’s father with a local media channel The Gajab Haryana, where he narrated the same details. The thumbnail of the video carried the same viral news.
This helps us conclude that an old image of a newspaper report detailing the suicide of a youth on account of not clearing the Army exam is being falsely liked to the recent shared controversy over the newly launched Agnipath scheme.
Result: False context/Missing Context
Sources
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Authors
Pankaj Menon is a fact-checker based out of Delhi who enjoys ‘digital sleuthing’ and calling out misinformation. He has completed his MA in International Relations from Madras University and has worked with organisations like NDTV, Times Now and Deccan Chronicle online in the past.
