‘People disrespect the disabled’: Meet the man who has become face of racist attacks on Indians
Pune resident lived 38 years after a fall on his chin left him with fused jaw and skull bones, and unable to open his mouth. And then Internet discovered his before surgery photos
Rajendra Panchal, 47, knew news reports from 2018 about the surgery that corrected his fused jaw and skull bones were available online. What he didn’t know was that in recent days, his photos were being shared on social media to make racist attacks against Indians.
His family was surprised the photos had surfaced the way they had. But it was nothing that he hadn’t seen before, says Panchal. “Tiraskar bharpoor karta loka (People disrespect the disabled a lot).”
He was around a year old when Panchal fell chin first on the ground. The fall was so severe that it fused his jaw and skull bone on both sides and left him unable to open his mouth. The family lived in Dhaba in rural Osmanabad (now Dharashiv), and Panchal’s father worked as a carpenter. They never had the means to consult a doctor, and for the next 38 years of his life, Panchal lived with the condition, called temporo-mandibular joint ankylosis, unable to eat solid food.
In 2017, a team of maxillofacial surgeons at Pune’s M A Rangoonwala Dental College took on his case for free. A surgery changed his life, allowing him to open his mouth, eat solid food, and speak clearly. His weight gradually increased, from 45 kg pre-surgery to over 60 kg now. The doctors at the time also shared his photos before and after surgery, which have now resurfaced online, in racist attacks seeking to represent “an archetypal Indian”.
Rajendra Panchal on the operation table
Dr J B Garde, the lead surgeon in the operation on Panchal, says he was shocked when he saw the context in which his photos were being shared online. Showing photos of patients with a similar condition from across the globe, he says: “Rajendra’s condition has nothing to do with being Indian or other nationality. The etiology (cause) of this condition is not genetic but mostly physical trauma, birth injury or ear infection.”
Panchal stumbled upon the cure by sheer luck. At the age of 17, having dropped out of school after Class 4, he ran away from home after an argument with his parents, and landed in Pune. By then, he had spent years seeing people shrink away from him. “If a disabled person comes and sits next to you, will you let him? People still don’t talk respectfully to disabled people, so you can imagine what I went through that long back.”
In Pune, not knowing anyone, Panchal went without almost any food for days, with his first few jobs only giving something to eat and no money. “I did everything from pulling out weeds to sweeping rooms to daily labour.”
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Rajendra Panchal
Then, in 2017, when he was 39, Panchal got a toothache. “The dentist referred me to the surgeons, who diagnosed my condition and performed the operation. If I did not have a toothache, I would have never even gone to a doctor.”
Dr Gaurav Kuthwad, who was part of the operation team, says: “This was a complicated surgery, as the skull and jaw bone had been fused for over 35 years. There are many veins and arteries near the ear region where jaw movement happens. We had to identify these and cut the bone and separate the skull bone from the mandible.”
Rajendra Panchal with his son in his house.
Now employed as a mason and living in a makeshift space provided by his employer in an under-construction building in Pune’s Viman Nagar, Panchal is married and stays with his wife and son, who is pursuing a Bachelors in Economics. While his parents stay back in Dhaba, a brother lives in Uruli Kanchan, an hour from Pune.
Panchal says he doesn’t let the past affect him, but is thankful for what he has. “My family and even my employer supported me during the surgery. I used to earn around Rs 100 every day and there was no way I could have paid for it. But the doctors treated me free of cost.”
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And now, after the operation, he adds, “things have become much better”. “At least I can have food.”
Soham Shah is a Correspondent with The Indian Express, based in Pune. A journalism graduate with a background in fact-checking, he brings a meticulous and research-oriented approach to his current reporting.
Professional Background
Role: Correspondent coverig education and city affairs in Pune.
Specialization: His primary beat is education, but he also maintains a strong focus on civic issues, public health, human rights, and state politics.
Key Strength: Soham focuses on data-driven reporting on school and college education, government reports, and public infrastructure.
Recent Notable Articles (Late 2025)
His late 2025 work highlights a transition from education-centric reporting to hard-hitting investigative and human-rights stories:
1. Investigations & Governance
"Express Impact: Mother's name now a must to download birth certificate from PMC site" (Dec 20, 2025): Reporting on a significant policy change by the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) following his earlier reports on gender inclusivity in administrative documents.
"44-Acre Mahar Land Controversy: In June, Pune official sought land eviction at Pawar son firm behest" (Nov 9, 2025): An investigative piece on real estate irregularities involving high-profile political families.
2. Education & Campus Life
Faculty crisis at SPPU hits research, admin work: 62% of govt-sanctioned posts vacant, over 75% in many depts (Sept 12, 2025): An investigative piece on professor vacancies at Savitribai Phule Pune University.
"Maharashtra’s controversial third language policy: Why National Curriculum Framework recommends a third language from Class 6" (July 2): This detailed piece unpacks reasons behind why the state's move to introduce a third language from class 1 was controversial.
"Decline in number of schools, teachers in Maharashtra but student enrolment up: Report" (Jan 2025): Analyzing discrepancies in the state's education data despite rising student numbers.
3. Human Rights & Social Issues
"Aanchal Mamidawar was brave after her family killed her boyfriend" (Dec 17, 2025): A deeply personal and hard-hitting opinion piece/column on the "crime of love" and honor killings in modern India.
"'People disrespect the disabled': Meet the man who has become face of racist attacks on Indians" (Nov 29, 2025): A profile of a Pune resident with severe physical deformities who became the target of global online harassment, highlighting issues of disability and cyber-bullying.
Signature Style
Soham is known for his civil-liberties lens. His reporting frequently champions the rights of the marginalized—whether it's students fighting for campus democracy, victims of regressive social practices, or residents struggling with crumbling urban infrastructure (as seen in his "Breathless Pune" contributions). He is adept at linking hyper-local Pune issues to larger national conversations about law and liberty.
X (Twitter): @SohamShah07 ... Read More
Rajendra Panchal on the operation table
Rajendra Panchal
Rajendra Panchal with his son in his house.
