New Delhi: A video of a young woman purportedly being lauded for success in exams has gone viral, with many social media users claiming she is the Hathras resident who was allegedly gang-raped last month.
The Hathras woman, who was allegedly raped by four men on 14 September, died Tuesday.
The video in question shows a woman returning from what is presumably an exam, and being greeted by several people who lean down to touch her feet and offer her flowers.
The caption, in Hindi, reads, “Hathras’s daughter [name redacted] was also a topper in her studies. Her welcome is worth watching.”
The video has been shared widely on Facebook, including by Bahujan Samaj Party worker Priyanka Gautam and Youth Congress leader Saddam Khan. As of Sunday afternoon, it had over 80,000 views and more than 2,400 shares.
Fact check
However, the woman in the video is not the Dalit woman from Hathras, but someone else entirely.
The origins and context of the video are unknown, but the fact that it is a different person was established through a comparison between the video and a photo of the victim. Furthermore, the Hathras gang-rape victim was only educated till Class 5, as confirmed by her family members.
The rape and consequent death of the 20-year-old Dalit woman in Hathras, Uttar Pradesh, by four upper caste men has led to widespread outrage. After the woman died, the Hathras administration carried out a hurried cremation that didn’t involve her family members, which has further fuelled public anger.
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