Communal posts falsely claim Udaipur murder victim was only given ₹5 lakh by Rajasthan government

Tension prevailed in Jaipur, the capital of the north Indian state of Rajasthan after a 17-year-old Muslim youth named Iqbal was allegedly beaten to death with sticks on September 29. The police have said that the attack was due to a misunderstanding following a road rage incident. In the aftermath of Iqbal’s death, allegedly at the hands of members of another community, the state government announced a compensation of ₹50 lakh for his family. In addition, a contract job and a dairy booth were also allocated to a family member. 

What is the claim?

Post Iqbal’s death and the subsequent compensation by the state government, a post with a picture of a bank cheque began circulating on social media (see archive version here) with the claim that while the state government announced a relief of ₹50 lakh for Iqbal’s family, a compensation of only ₹5 lakh was announced last year after the murder of Kanhaiyalal in Udaipur. In June 2022, a tailor named Kanhaiyalal was killed by two Muslim youths in Udaipur for allegedly sharing a post online in support of the controversial remarks made by former Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) spokesperson Nupur Sharma against Prophet Muhammad.

The social media posts shared with a communal tone on X (formerly Twitter) and Facebook, accused the Congress government of Rajasthan of discrimination and appeasement. See other posts shared with the same claim here, here, here, and here.

Screenshot of viral post (Source: X/Screenshot)

However, the viral claim is false because the Rajasthan government had announced compensation of ₹50 lakh for Kanhaiyalal's family apart from providing government jobs to his two sons.

What are the facts?

We checked media reports on Iqbal’s death and came across a report by The Indian Express published on October 1. The report quoted Jaipur Police Commissioner Biju George Joseph as saying, “Two motorcycles collided and (one of the) two persons, who had stopped to see it, was assaulted by the locals. There was no motive, it was just some misunderstanding'.' According to the police, Iqbal had allegedly stopped to help the bikers after they fell.

The report added that Iqbal allegedly got into an argument with a local resident, who hailed from another community. After this, some local people attacked Iqbal with sticks. The report added that Iqbal fell unconscious and was taken to SMS Hospital, where he died late on Friday night during treatment. Since the accused and the deceased belonged to another community, there was tension in the entire area.

A statement issued by the office of the Director General of Police said that around 15 people have been detained.

According to a report in The Hindu, shortly after the incident, the district administration in Jaipur announced financial assistance of ₹50 lakh for the deceased’s family, and the state government promised a contractual job to one of his family members. This has also been confirmed in a Facebook post by local MLA Amin Kagzi. Kagzi’s post contains the same picture of the bank cheque shared in the viral post. Naima Parveen, whose name is mentioned on the cheque, is the mother of the deceased youth.

Screenshot of the Facebook post of MLA Amin Kagzi. (Source: Facebook/Screenshot)

Kanhaiyalal’s family received compensation of ₹50 lakh

Last year in June 2022, Kanhaiyalal, a tailor from Udaipur, allegedly shared a social media post supporting the controversial remarks made by Nupur Sharma on Prophet Muhammad, after which he was killed allegedly by two Muslim men. Following the incident, Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot met Kanhaiyalal’s family and announced an ex-gratia of ₹50 lakh and government jobs to his two sons. Gehlot had made this announcement on X (formerly Twitter) and Facebook.

Screenshot of Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot's X post from July 2022. (Source: X/Screenshot)

A press release issued by the Rajasthan government on June 30, 2022, also stated that a compensation of ₹50 lakh was given to Kanhaiyalal’s family. 

The press release issued by the Chief Minister’s Office in 2022 on Kanhaiyalal's death. (Source: CMO Office/Screenshot)

Logically Facts also contacted Kanhaiyalal’s family, and his son Yash refuted the viral claim and confirmed to us that they had received a cheque of ₹50 lakh from the government. “Within two-three days of the announcement, we received ₹ 50 lakh. My brother and I were also given government jobs. We are currently working at the District Collector Office,” Yash told Logically Facts. He also shared a picture of the ₹50 lakh cheque given by the Rajasthan government last year.

This viral claim has also been debunked by the fact-checking wing of the Rajasthan Information and Public Relations Department, which shared the claim on its social media handle, calling it baseless and misleading.

Screenshot of the Facebook post by the Rajasthan Information and Public Relations Department. (Source: DIPR/Screenshot)

The verdict

The claim that the Rajasthan government gave ₹50 lakh compensation to Iqbal, who was killed in Jaipur, but only ₹5 lakh compensation to Kanhaiyalal's family in Udaipur, is wrong. Kanhaiyalal's family was handed a cheque of ₹50 lakh in 2022, and both his sons were given government jobs. Therefore, we have marked this claim as false.

(Translated by: Sanyukta)