Indian-origin man in Canada explains how he takes ‘free’ food at food banks, faces backlash after video goes viral

An Indian-origin man shared a video about taking ‘free’ food at Canadian food banks. His video went viral and prompted backlash from social media users.

A video of an Indian-origin data scientist explaining how he takes “free” food from food banks for students in Canada went viral and prompted chatter on X. Originally shared on Instagram, his video captured people's attention after an X user shared it on the microblogging platform while slamming the man. Following this, X users engaged in a debate, with many criticising him and some speaking in his support.

The image shows the Indian-origin man whose video on taking ‘free’ food at Canadian food banks went viral. (Screengrab)

The X user claimed that the man in the video, Mehul Prajapati, works as a data scientist in Canada and earns nearly $98,000 per year. The X user later added that they received an email from the company Prajapati allegedly worked with stating that the “individual named in the video no longer works” for the organisation.

Take a look at the posts on Mehul Prajapati here:

Since being shared a day ago, the post has accumulated more than 3.1 lakh views. The share has further prompted people to post varied reactions.

What did X users react to the viral video?

“Now he can live that food bank life fr,” wrote an X user.

“I’m curious how you knew they worked for TD? Good catch, though,” asked another. The X user who posted the video replied, “He used his real name on Instagram, said he was a data scientist, and had a LinkedIn which said where he worked”.

“Ah, this is actually sad. He made a mistake, but what is he going to do now that he’s jobless? He probably needs this work for immigration, too. Rather shame someone than shame + unnecessary job loss,” argued a third.

“The food bank is meant for the poor, not just a way for people to abuse charity,” commented a fourth.

Earlier, the Instagram user’s profile appeared on Google search, but clicking on the link prompted a “Sorry, this page isn't available” message, indicating that the page was inactive at that point.