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  • FACT CHECK: This 3-month-old child did not die in Bihar floods, he was killed by his mother
This story is from July 18, 2019

FACT CHECK: This 3-month-old child did not die in Bihar floods, he was killed by his mother

Photo and video of a dead kid at the banks of a river are being shared with the claim that he lost his life as he drowned due to floods in Bihar’s Muzaffarpur.
FACT CHECK: This 3-month-old child did not die in Bihar floods, he was killed by his mother
Key Highlights
  • Photo of a dead kid is being shared with a false claim to target NDA government in Bihar.
  • Among those propagating the false claim is Tejashwi Yadav's RJD party.
  • Times Fact Check has found that the kid was killed by his own mother.
CLAIM
Photo and video of a dead kid at the banks of a river are being shared with the claim that he lost his life as he drowned due to floods in Bihar’s Muzaffarpur.
A Twitter user shared the video with a caption in Hindi that closely translates to, “Do you remember how the whole world cried when they saw photo of an innocent Syrian refugee kid’s body found at a beach? Unfortunately, there is no one to shed tears for a child who lost his life in the disastrous floods in Mithila.
Even the government has not shown sensitivity towards this kid.” In the video shared by this user, a man holding a fishing net could be seen standing next to the kid’s body.

Here’s the archived version of tweet.
The official Twitter account of the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) quoted this tweet and wrote “Speechless! On the other hand, yesterday, Bihar’s entire cabinet of ministers watched a film and ate free dinner at a multiplex, displaying devilish attitude under the leadership of Sushil Modi. And on top of that, they were brazen enough to argue they can’t stop eating and watching movie just because there are floods in the state. Shameless!”


Another tweet from RJD’s account had screenshots of a related report from a news website. The title of the report read “A heartbreaking picture emerges from flood-ravaged Bihar”.

The same video was shared by many more with similar claim.

Here’s the archived link of tweet.
TRUTH
The kid in question did not die in Bihar floods. He was killed by his mother.
Times Group’s NBT team got in touch with the district magistrate (DM) of Muzaffarpur to know the truth behind the video shared by RJD. The DM’s office, on seeing the video, informed that the unfortunate incident indeed happened in Muzaffarpur but that, as per locals, it had nothing to do with floods in the state.
Our team also got a press release from Muzaffarpur district’s public relations office. As per this press release, the incident took place in Minapur village. A woman named Reena Devi, after fighting with her husband, went to the Bagmati river and pushed her four kids into the river. Local divers managed to rescue her and her 7-year-old daughter but could not save the lives of her other children.
Here’s the press release:
real

VERDICT
Times Fact Check has found that the viral image of a dead kid being shared to target Bihar government has nothing to do with floods. The kid was killed by his mother.
End of Article
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