Indian Student In Canada, An Instagram Video And Online Hate

It all began with an Instagram video telling university students how best to utilise a local food bank. Soon, the Indian student in Canada behind the video found himself in a social media storm of disinformation.

Mehul Prajapati, 26, Wilfrid Laurier University student in Ontario, has now deleted the video, which was widely shared on social media platforms like TikTok, Reddit and X, with users questioning the intention behind students using food banks for free food to save money.

"You can take as much as you want...This has been very helpful to me as a student. This is how I save hundreds of bucks every month in food and groceries," Mr Prajapati, wearing a Laurier sweater, said in the video. 

This got users to question the rationale of using the food bank resources to save money.

Soon after, social media took over the story, wrongly claiming that the student was a data analyst at TD Bank and makes an annual salary of $98,000 per year.

This turned out false. Mr Prajapati was an intern for 17 weeks at the bank and his stint ended in December 2023, reported Moneycontrol.

But headlines both in India and Canada claimed that the student was "sacked" by the bank. 

The claim has since been debunked by TD.

"The individual identified in the video is not a current TD employee and to our knowledge was not employed with TD at the time the video was posted," spokesperson Lisa Bodnar was quoted saying by Canadian daily The Record. 

Meanwhile, the University's dean of students is reviewing the situation and will address it directly with Mr Prajapati, who has been receiving a lot of online hate.

"The online abuse directed at our student is malicious and harmful," Laurier said in a statement to The Record. "We are providing the student with the necessary support," it added.

Over the last week, Mr Prajapati, also a practising musician, has been forced to shut down all of his social media platforms. 

"Hearing my phone notification would scare me. I stayed locked up at home for six days, worried about my safety and dealing with feeling alone and unsupported," he told Moneycontrol. "Nobody seemed to want to hear my side; they just believed false things about me that ruined the reputation I worked 25 years to build, all in just a few moments," he told the news outlet.

Explaining his side of the story, he said the intent of the video was to tell other students who may be struggling with food insecurity that there are options available to them.

"This experience taught me a hard lesson: Not everything you see on the internet is true. Often, the real story is very different from what people assume. This the dark side of social media and internet either can make you hero or zero in a click of time," he further told Moneycontrol reflecting on the ordeal.