Authors
Kushel HM is a mechanical engineer-turned-journalist, who loves all things football, tennis and films. He was with the news desk at the Hindustan Times, Mumbai, before joining Newschecker.
Claim
Belgian woman was tied and raped for five days by “Pakistani jihadis”.
The archived version of the post can be seen here.
Fact
Newschecker ran a keyword search for “Belgian woman Pakistan”, which led us to multiple media reports on a Belgian woman who was allegedly raped for five days and found abandoned on a road in Pakistan.
“A 28-year-old Belgian woman was found with her hands tied on the streets of Islamabad on August 14, Pakistan’s 78th Independence Day. Pakistan media reported, citing the police, the woman alleged that she was raped for five days, leading to the arrest of a man in connection with the crime,” read an HT report, dated August 15, 2024. Similar reports can be seen here and here, however none of these reports shared the viral image, raising our doubts whether it was related to the case.
We then ran a reverse image search, which led us to multiple old media reports, featuring the same image, stating that the woman was a Czech model who was arrested at Lahore’s AIIama IqbaI International airport after £1 million of heroin was found in her bag.“A model broke down in tears today as she was sentenced to eight years in prison in Pakistan for trying to smuggle £1 million of heroin into Ireland. Tereza Hluskova wept after she was handed the sentence in the eastern city of Lahore, the capital of Punjab province. The court said the 22-year-old Czech model was arrested in possession of 19 lbs (8.5kg) of heroin in January 2018 at the Lahore airport. From there, she was heading to Ireland via Dubai in the United Arab Emirates, the court said,” read the Daily Mail report, dated March 20, 2019. Similar reports can be seen here and here.
We found the same photo on Getty Images, dated March 20, 2019, with the caption reading, “Czech model Tereza Hluskova weeps after the court decision to sentence her to eight years and eight months in prison for attempted heroin smuggling, in Lahore on March 20, 2019. A Pakistan court sentenced Czech national Tereza Hluskova to eight years and eight months in prison after she was found carrying eight and a half kilograms of heroin last year from Lahores Allama Iqbal International Airport.” We learnt that the model was released from prison after a court of appeals acquitted her on November 1, 2021, as “the prosecution failed to prove its case beyond a reasonable doubt”. Hluskova had insisted someone had placed the drugs in her suitcase.
UPDATE ON 16/08/2024: According to a Dawn report, dated August 16, 2024, the woman who was found bound and gagged on a roadside in the capital on Wednesday and claimed to be a foreign national turned out to be a permanent resident of Rawalpindi.
“Police officers told Dawn that a special committee had been formed under the supervision of a senior superintendent of police (SSP), comprising the subdivisional police officer, station house officers of Aabpara and women police stations and an official from the Special Sexual Offence Investigation Unit after the investigators remained clueless to establish the nationality of the woman who claimed to be from Belgium,” read the report, adding that the committee took the woman to the Nadra (National Database & Registration Authority) headquarters for identification as no travel record was available with the FIA and the embassy. Through her facial recognition and fingerprint impression, the woman was identified as a Pakistani national and a permanent resident of Rawalpindi.
The Belgian Embassy, too, stated on Twitter that the the Pakistani police have confirmed that the alleged victim is not a Belgian citizen.
Also Read: Viral Video Of Bangladeshi Man Calling For Boycott Of Indian Products Is Old
Result: False
Sources
Daily Mail report, March 20, 2019
Getty Images photo, March 20, 2019
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Authors
Kushel HM is a mechanical engineer-turned-journalist, who loves all things football, tennis and films. He was with the news desk at the Hindustan Times, Mumbai, before joining Newschecker.
