A video of a little girl who went astray and got lost is widely circulating on social media with the claim that she was found in Mangalore with a group of Tamil beggars. The message adds that she was found by the beggars on a train coming from Mumbai. “She knows her name & says she is Sonal Bipin Patel,” per the claim. Incidentally, this does not match with the name the girl says in the video. When asked, she says her name is “Gungun”.

Among those who shared the video with the same claim was singer Rekha Bhardwaj who later took it down. Another Twitter user @vidurneeti1 had also shared the clip.

The video was also posted by one Mruthyumjayudu Pilli on Facebook. It has close to 1 lakh views and has been shared over 6,000 times.

From the account of an individual user Kadambini Vikas Bijlani, the video garnered 7,500 shares and has more than 1.3 lakh views. Furthermore, it drew 2,000 shares from the account of another user Inderjeet Oberoi.

It is viral on Facebook.

The video has been shared with a different narrative as well. Posted by one Mudit Aryan Shukla, the clip has amassed whopping 1.8 million views. The corresponding message reads, “рдкрд╛рдкрд╛ рдХрд╛ рдирд╛рдо рдЕрд╢реЛрдХ рдХреБрдорд╛рд░ рд╡ рдорд╛рддрд╛ рдХрд╛ рдирд╛рдо рдЧреБрдбреНрдбреА рдмрддрд╛ рд░рд╣реЗ рд╣реИ рдЗрд╕ рдлреЛрдЯреЛ рдХреЛ рд╕реЗрдВрдб рдХрд░рдирд╛ рдирд╣реА рднреБрд▓рдирд╛ рд╕рд╛рдпрдж. рдХрд┐рд╕реА рдХреЗ рдШрд░. рд╡рд╛рд▓реЗ рдорд┐рд▓ рдЬрд╛рдП Friends рдкрд┐рд▓рд┐рдЬ рдЖрдкрдХреЗ рдкрд╛рд╕ рдЬрд┐рддрдиреЗ рднреА group рд╣реИ рдкрд┐рд▓рд┐рдЬ рдЙрд╕рдореЗрдВ рд╕реЗрдВрдирдб рдХрд░реЛ (She is saying her father’s name is Ashok Kumar and her mother’s name is Guddi. Don’t forget to send this photo. Maybe the family finds her. Please send it on all groups.)”

OLD VIDEO, FALSE CLAIM

The video was traced back to January 30, 2018, when it was shared by a Twitter user Arjun Chaudhary. Tagging Uttar Pradesh police and Ghaziabad police he had written, “рдпреЗ рдмрд┐рдЯреАрдпрд╛ рдХрд┐рд╕рдХреА рд╣реЗ рдпреЗ рдореЛрд╣рди рдирдЧрд░ рдореЗ рдорд┐рд▓реА рд╣реИ рдЕрдЧрд░ рдХрд┐рд╕реА рдХреЛ рдЬрд╛рдирдХрд╛рд░реА рд╣реЗ рддреЛ рдмрддрд╛рдР рдореЗ рд░реЛрдХреА рднрджреЛрд░рд┐рдпрд╛ рдлреЛрди рд▓рдЧрд╛рдВрдпреЗ 7000818182. (Whose daughter is she? She was found in Mohan Nagar. If anyone has any information then call on this number 7000818182. I’m Rocky Bhadauria.)”

That same day, Ghaziabad police tweeted that the girl was found – рд╕реЛрд╢рд▓ рдореАрдбрд┐рдпрд╛, #uppolice #ghaziabadpolice рдХреЗ рдкреНрд░рдпрд╛рд╕реЛрдВ рд╕реЗ рдЙрдХреНрдд рдмрдЪреНрдЪреА рдЕрдкрдиреЗ рдкрд░рд┐рдЬрдиреЛрдВ рд╕реЗ рдорд┐рд▓ рдЧрдпреА рд╣реИ ~ рд░реЛрдХреА рднрджреМрд░рд┐рдпрд╛ рдЬреА рд╕реЗ рд╕рдВрдкрд░реНрдХ рдХрд░ рдЬрд╛рдирдХрд╛рд░реА рд▓реА рдЧрдпреА рд╣реИред рдзрдиреНрдпрд╡рд╛рдж ! (Due to the efforts on social media, UP police and Ghaziabad police, the girl has been reunited with her family ~ We got her information after contacting Rocky Bhadauria. Thank you!)

When Alt News called the number, it was switched off. Website Newschecker however had earlier fact-checked the video and was able to contact Rocky Bhadauria, a resident of Madhya Pradesh. He informed that the child had wandered into a neighbour’s house while playing outside. After posting her clip on Twitter, the girl’s family members were able to find her and took her home.

The same message “child seen in Mangalore with Tamil beggarsтАЭ was earlier viral to circulate another piece of misinformation where images of a girl from Bangladeshi were shared.

Donate to Alt News!
Independent journalism that speaks truth to power and is free of corporate and political control is possible only when people contribute towards the same. Please consider donating in support of this endeavour to fight misinformation and disinformation.

To make an instant donation, click on the "Donate Now" button above. For information regarding donation via Bank Transfer/Cheque/DD, click here.

About the Author

Pooja Chaudhuri is a senior editor at Alt News.