Was corona the reason behind the suicide by a family of three in Surat?
A viral image of suicide by a family of three hanging from a tree is claimed to have happened in Surat. This image went viral in social media in context of COVID-19. Claims were that the deceased family was travelling back to their native place from Surat and committed suicide due to hunger.
The photo was posted with a caption reading “सुरत से आ रहें थे पैदल भुख बरदाश्त नहीं हुई तो सुसाइड कर ली. कोरोना मिडिया अगर मरकज़ निजामुद्दीन से फुरसत मिल गई हो तो जरा अपनी न्युज में उसको जगह दे“.
Translation –” They were travelling from Surat on foot, they decided to commit suicide as they couldn’t tolerate hunger. If the media is done broadcasting news about Makar Nizamuddin, then do give them some space in the news”.
This image which was posted by the Facebook handle Irfan Chokkar garnered around 9.5K shares.
There were several others who also posted the image with a similar caption in Facebook.
Similar posts were posted in Twitter with different captions that said, “दीप- मोमबत्ती- जला कर आप क्या करना चाहते हो ? कभी देश इन गरीब मजदूर के बारे मे भी सोच लिया किजीये माननीय प्रधान मंत्री मोदी जी जो कोरोना lockdown में भुखमरी से आत्म हत्या कर रहें है? इस मासूम की गलती क्या ?”. This translates to,” What do you want to by lighting candles? Honorable PM Modi Ji think about these poor laborers. They have committed suicide due to hunger during the Corona lockdown. What was the fault of these innocent people?’
दीप- मोमबत्ती- जला कर आप क्या करना चाहते हो ?
कभी देश इन गरीब मजदूर के बारे मे भी सोच लिया किजीये माननीय प्रधान मंत्री मोदी जी
जो कोरोना lockdown में भुखमरी से आत्म हत्या कर रहें है?
इस मासूम की गलती क्या ? pic.twitter.com/iYlG72zRZx— chandan kumar paswan (@chandan74471130) April 4, 2020
Congress Leader Alka Lamba also tweeted the image with a similar narrative. This post received around 1.2K likes.
क्या एक दीया इस परिवार के लिए भी कोई जगाएगा 🙁 ???
कुछ यूं मगरूर था मेरा रहबर आसमां में अपनी सितारों की दुनिया में ,
ठीक उसी वक्त जमीन पर खाक हो रही थी कुछ जिंदगियां यूं उसके इंतजार में…🇮🇳🙏 pic.twitter.com/OAasHWSUbu
— Alka Lamba – अलका लाम्बा🇮🇳 (@LambaAlka) April 3, 2020
Truth
This claim is FALSE. This was not taken in Surat but was taken in Maharashtra. An article published by Nagpur Today on June 13, 2018 had the same image and indicated that the incident happened in Wardha district, Maharashtra. According to the article, the family of three committed suicide due to financial problems as they were unable to repay loans. This clearly shows, that the family did not suicide due to hunger during the Corona lockdown.
