Fact Check: Viral video does not show Telangana auto driver's suicide over women's free bus ride scheme
The video is from an incident in Andhra Pradesh, not Telangana.
By Md Mahfooz Alam Published on 18 Jan 2024 4:14 PM GMT
Screengrab of the post making the false claim.
(Trigger Warning: Mentions of suicide)
Hyderabad: A distressing video of a man taking his life by suicide is being circulated on social media with the claim that he was an auto driver from Telangana, protesting the state's free bus ride scheme for women. Users sharing the video also claimed that the media is not reporting the incident.
The post comes in the backdrop of Telangana Chief Minister Revanth Reddy rolling out the Mahalakshmi scheme, which offers free travel on state transport buses to women and girls. The auto drivers in the state earlier protested against the scheme arguing that it would affect their income.
“Another auto driver commits suicide in Telangana. Who is responsible for this…?” wrote an X user who shared the video.
(Source: X)
(Note: We are not using any links to the video due to the distressing nature of the visuals.)
Fact Check
NewsMeter found that the claim is false. The video is from an incident in Andhra Pradesh, not Telangana.
We found an X user pointing out in the replies that the video is from Andhra Pradesh. Taking this cue, we ran a keyword search and found a screengrab from the video used in a report by V6 News, published on December 28, 2023. The report identifies the deceased as Ravi, personal assistant to the Srikalashasti MLA Madhusudhan Reddy Biyyapu, but does not disclose a reason for the suicide.
A report by Telugu One News also carried a screengrab from the video. It also identified the person as Rav, who was working as MLA’s private assistant. This report said that the police were investigating the incident and did not mention the reason behind the suicide.
According to a Telugu Post report published around the same time, Ravi was a resident of the housing board of Srikalahasti. He has been reportedly managing the Tirumala darshan tickets for the last four and half years as the PA of the MLA. It mentions that Ravi died by suicide due to family issues and also mentions that the police are investigating the matter.
Samayam Telugu, a regional publication under the Times of India group, also reported the incident with similar details.
Hence, we conclude that the viral video does not show an auto-driver in Telangana taking his life. The video is from a separate incident in Andhra Pradesh.
