Jamia Student Injured During Protests Is Alive

A six seconds video showing an injured Jamia Millia Islamia (JMI) student being carried away is being shared with the false claim that he succumbed to his injuries. The clip is viral in the wake of protests by JMI students in Delhi against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) on December 15, 2019.

Jamia Millia Islamia University Vice-Chancellor Najma Akhtar dismissed claims of any student casualty viral on social media stating that no student had died in the protest as being claimed.

The protests turned violent by evening with reports of buses and several two-wheelers being set ablaze. Meanwhile police were seen using batons and tear gas charging on the protesters. "Nearly 200 students have been injured," stated, VC Akhtar while addressing a press conference condemning the Delhi Police's crackdown against students, on December 16, 2019.

Several social media users had shared the viral clip with the misleading caption claiming that, "we lost a friend of ours in Jamia protest,,Brutal killing by Delhi police..Shakir from kota Rajasthan."

Click here to view, and here for an archive.

Click here to view, and here for an archive.

After the clip of the injured student went viral claiming that the student had died, Reyaz, Assistant Professor of Journalism and Mass Communication, Aliah University, and an alumni of JMI, tweeted dismissing the rumors. "We confirm that no student of Jamia died. We also confirm that all detained students are being released," said Reyaz in his tweet.

Viral on Facebook

We searched with the same caption on Facebook and found that the video was being shared with the misleading claim.

FACT-CHECK

VC Akhtar outrightly denied claims that a student had died during the protests in and around the university while addressing the press conference. "There has been a strong rumour that two students died, we deny this altogether, none of our students died in the incident," said VC Akhtar.

One can view here statement at the 3.12 minutes timestamp.

BOOM spoke to Reyaz who told us that the Jamia Alumni who have been tracking the events unfolding has confirmed that the student is still alive. "All the Jamia alumni who are journalists working in different fields and have our own WhatsApp group, we have been following the events unfolding. As of 3.00 am, the boy injured during the protest is said to have been stable," said Reyaz.

Additionally we also spoke to Naushad Ahmed Raza, a student representative of JMI, who told us that the student is currently recuperating in the AIMS Trauma center in Delhi.

"A JMI student has been severely injured in his eye. He is currently recuperating in the AIMS Trauma center. However, there has been no life loss yet," said Raza.