Fact check: Old video of boys placing stones on railway tracks resurfaces with misleading claims
New Delhi: A video showing a minor boy placing stones on railway tracks has resurfaced on social media, accompanied by misleading claims suggesting a deliberate act of sabotage linked to communal tensions. The video, widely circulated on platforms like X, implies that children are being used to cause train derailments, with some posts falsely attributing the incident to a specific community.
Social media users shared the video, claiming that the event is part of a larger conspiracy to sabotage railway tracks. These posts have gained significant traction, with many speculating about the involvement of certain communities in the incident.
However, a fact-check report by Alt News reveals that the video is not recent and lacks any communal angle. The video was traced back to May 12, 2018, when it was first posted on Facebook. It was recorded in Kalaburagi, Karnataka, and depicts children from nearby slums playing by placing stones on the railway tracks.
Ravi Kumar, the circle inspector of Raichur Railways, confirmed that the video is from 2018 and clarified that the children had no intention of causing harm. The trackmen present at the scene, identified as Gopal and Rajkumar, scolded the boys and let them go without filing a case. Both trackmen also confirmed that the boys involved were Hindus, debunking the communal claims.
In conclusion, the viral video is from 2018, and the claims of a deliberate act of sabotage with a communal angle are false. The incident involved children playing near the tracks without any malicious intent.
Right Wing Pro-Govt Propaganda accounts are sharing old videos to give communal angles to the train accidents or it is a deliberate act of 'sabotage'
— Mohammed Zubair (@zoo_bear) September 8, 2024
This is a 6-yr-old video of boy placing stones on rail tracks in Kalburgi. This video was earlier shared with a claim that the… https://t.co/EaDBHZlskH
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Broken relationships don't automatically amount to abetment of suicide: SC
New Delhi (PTI): Broken relationships, while emotionally distressing, do not automatically amount to abetment of suicide in the absence of intention leading to the criminal offence, the Supreme Court on Friday said.
The observations came from a bench of Justices Pankaj Mithal and Ujjal Bhuyan in a judgement, which overturned the conviction of one Kamaruddin Dastagir Sanadi by the Karnataka High Court for the offences of cheating and abetment of suicide under the IPC.
"This is a case of a broken relationship, not criminal conduct," the judgment said.
Sanadi was initially charged under Sections 417 (cheating), 306 (abetment of suicide), and 376 (rape) of the IPC.
While the trial court acquitted him of all the charges, the Karnataka High Court, on the state's appeal, convicted him of cheating and abetment of suicide, sentencing him to five years imprisonment and imposing Rs 25,000 in fine.
According to the FIR registered at the mother's instance, her 21-year-old daughter was in love with the accused for the past eight years and died by suicide in August, 2007, after he refused to keep his promise to marry.
Writing a 17-page judgement, Justice Mithal analysed the two dying declarations of the woman and noted that neither was there any allegation of a physical relationship between the couple nor there was any intentional act leading to the suicide.
The judgement therefore underlined broken relationships were emotionally distressing, but did not automatically amount to criminal offences.
"Even in cases where the victim dies by suicide, which may be as a result of cruelty meted out to her, the courts have always held that discord and differences in domestic life are quite common in society and that the commission of such an offence largely depends upon the mental state of the victim," said the apex court.
The court further said, "Surely, until and unless some guilty intention on the part of the accused is established, it is ordinarily not possible to convict him for an offence under Section 306 IPC.”
The judgement said there was no evidence to suggest that the man instigated or provoked the woman to die by suicide and underscored a mere refusal to marry, even after a long relationship, did not constitute abetment.
