Fact Check: An old video of young women smoking and doing drugs from Punjab goes viral
Siddharth Urmil 
Claim
A video is going viral on social media which features two women smoking cigarettes. This is video seems to be from Punjab as both women are fluently speaking in Punjabi. A verified user on X, Preet Ahru (@Preet_Ahru) has shared this video on 4 April 2025. He has shown has concern with regards to the rising menace of drug usage among the young girls.
Furthermore, he has shared a caption with the video which says,“What have the conditions come to in Punjab… In Punjab, young girls are taking drugs like opium and cocaine, oh no 😓These girls have become so skilled in taking drugs… Drugs and religious conversion have ruined Punjab. (translated to English from Hindi)”
Besides, multiple users have shared the similar claim with the matching viral video, which can be here, here, and here.
Fact Check
To investigate the viral video, the DFRAC conducted a keyword search. This led us to a post on Facebook, dated 28 June 2015, that shows the same video of two young women smoking. This video is captioned, “VIRAL VIDEO SHOWS GIRLS IN PUNJAB BECOMING VICTIM OF DRUG EPIDEMIC.”
In addition, this video shows the shocking state of affairs in Punjab where over 70% of the youth is on drugs, as written in the description of the video.
Similarly, we found the same video on another platform, Dailymotion, which is uploaded on 4 June 2016.
Another user, World Punjabi has uploaded the same video featuring these two women smoking on Facebook. This video was uploaded on 3 September 2015. This video features caption saying, “Mr. Badal says that no one in Bathinda does drugs, in Bathinda, even the girls are not behind. Only God is the protector of Punjab.”
Finally, it is clear that the viral video has been uploaded many times previous. It first appeared in 2015 on various social media sites. Ever since, this video has been uploaded and made viral multiple times.
Conclusion
Hence, it is clear from the fact check that this viral video is misleading. The video first appeared in the year 2015. This video is not from present timeline.
