A video is being shared on social media and is falsely claimed to be from India, while also being linked to Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar. The claim accompanying the video states that a mob removed the hijab of two Muslim women and beat them. At the same time, several users have shared the video claiming that women were beaten in Bangladesh for not wearing a burqa.
The video was shared by a Pakistani propaganda account, MQM Television, operated from Canada, with the caption: “This is Modi’s India.”
Many users are sharing the video by linking it to Nitish Kumar, while others are sharing it with the claim that women were beaten in Bangladesh for not wearing a burqa.
Many users are sharing the video by linking it to Nitish Kumar; it can be viewed here, here, and here. While others are sharing it with the claim that women were beaten in Bangladesh for not wearing a burqa, this can be seen here, here, and here.
Fact Check:
The DFRAC team investigated the viral video and found that the incident is from Chattogram (Chittagong), Bangladesh, where a dispute broke out at a fair over the serving of food. Our team conducted a reverse image search of key frames from the viral video on Google. We found multiple media reports from Bangladeshi outlets, including Prothom Alo, Dainik Azadi, and Projonmo Kotha.
According to these media reports, the Chattogram district administration organised a three-day Victory Fair from Sunday to Tuesday at the CRB Sirishtala area on the occasion of Victory Day. Several mobile food stalls were set up around the fair. On Tuesday, thousands of people gathered there. Disputes broke out at several stalls over who would be served food first and who would not.
Citing Abu Sayeed, the officer-in-charge of the local CRB police outpost, the reports stated that after the incident, two women came to the police outpost and lodged a verbal complaint. Later, no one was found there, and both women had left. On that day, disputes occurred at multiple stalls due to the heavy crowd.
Neither the media reports nor the police statements mention that the women were beaten for not wearing a hijab or burqa.
Conclusion:
DFRAC’s fact check clearly shows that the viral video is not from India. It depicts an incident in Bangladesh where women were assaulted during a dispute over food distribution at a fair. Therefore, the claims made by users are misleading.
