Video of a mentally unstable man killing himself is shared as an Army aspirant’s suicide due to Agnipath scheme - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
August 1, 2022
Against the backdrop of the recent Agnipath protests all over the country, a video of man hit by a train is being widely shared on social media claiming that the man is an army aspirant and killed himself as he is ineligible for the post according to new recruitment rules.
Claim: Visuals of an army aspirant killing himself by standing in front of a running train, as he is ineligible for the post according to new recruitment rules under Agnipath scheme.
Fact: The man in the video is B. Sanjay Kumar (28), a native of Odisha, who was staying in Hyderabad. He was working in a hardware shop and was suffering from mental illness. On 21 November 2021, he went to Ramagundam Railway station and committed suicide by standing in front of a moving train. Hence, the claim made in the post is MISLEADING.
We searched the internet with relevant keywords and found that several news agencies have already reported this incident. They can be seen here, here and here
According to these reports, B. Sanjay Kumar (28), who was from Odisha, was staying with his grandfather in Hyderabad. Sanjay was working at a hardware shop and was suffering from mental illness and was undergoing treatment for the last three years. On 21 November 2021, he went to Ramagundam Railway station and committed suicide by standing in front of a speeding train. Railway Police registered the case and initiated the investigation.
Additionally, Agnipath scheme is a new scheme introduced by the Government of India on 14 June 2022, for recruitment of soldiers below the rank of commissioned officers into the three services of the armed forces. The scheme is scheduled to be implemented from September 2022. On 16 June 2022, violent protests erupted in several states in India with army aspirants demanding a rollback of the new scheme. Public property was also damaged in many of these protests.
To sum it up, the deceased in this video was not an army aspirant and change in army recruitment rules was not the reason for his suicide.