Media portal the Scroll.in had shared a video claiming that some children in Bihar’s Jehanabad are forced to survive on frogs because they do not have food to eat during the lockdown.
Scroll.in had shared a video by a Hindi YouTube channel ‘Newsd’ where a group of children say they are eating frogs because they do not have grains due to the lockdown.
Investigation by DM, Jehanabad
Following the propagation of the claim by Scroll, DM of Jehanabad launched an investigation into the issue. Bihar government’s Information and Public Relations Department had shared the information that upon investigation into the claims made by the video, it was found that the children had enough food stored in their homes and none had any reason to catch or eat frogs.
They stated that the video was made by some individuals with a malicious intention to defame the district administration.
मेंढक पकड़ कर बच्चों द्वारा खाये जाने की खबर की पड़ताल की जांच में पता चला कि उनके घर में पर्याप्त मात्रा में खाद्य सामग्री पहले से ही उपलब्ध है। कुछ गैर जिम्मेदार लोगों ने मेंढक खाते हुए बच्चों का वीडियो बनाकर सोशल मीडिया पर वायरल कर @DMJehanabad की छवि धूमिल करने की कोशिश की। pic.twitter.com/AUyGqmQiUN
— IPRD Bihar (@IPRD_Bihar) April 19, 2020
PIB called out Scroll
Following the clarification, Government of India’s Press Information Bureau also called out Scroll for sharing the fake and unverified claims.
Claim: Scroll -a prominent media portal has claimed children in Jehanabad, Bihar are eating frogs as they have no food at home. The video has since gone viral.#PIBFactCheck: The claim is false as inquired by Jehanabad DM, there is sufficient food in the homes of the children pic.twitter.com/GwXlSCVwHD
— PIB Fact Check (@PIBFactCheck) April 20, 2020
Shaming Scroll for its attempt to sensationalise a baseless and unverified claim, PIB stated, “Scroll -a prominent media portal has claimed children in Jehanabad, Bihar are eating frogs as they have no food at home. The video has since gone viral. #PIBFactCheck: The claim is false as inquired by Jehanabad DM, there is sufficient food in the homes of the children.”
Following the fact-check, Scroll has since updated its report and mentioned that their claim has been busted by the DM’s investigation.
NDTV’s fake claim that Arunachal tribals are eating snakes due to food scarcity
Yesterday, NDTV had claimed in an article that tribals in Arunachal Pradesh are being forced to hunt snakes to eat because they do not have rice to eat. They had shared a social media video where some tribals were seen posing with a 12-foot king cobra they had ‘hunted’ to eat.
Following NDTV’s claim, union minister and Arunachal Pradesh MP Kiren Rijiju had criticised the irresponsible reportage, stating that the King Cobra is a protected species and no tribals in Arunachal Pradesh hunt snakes for consumption. Rijiju and the Arunachal government also slammed NDTV for sharing fake claims and clarified that there is no scarcity of rice in their state.
