Authors
Claim
Muslims “attack and drown” Hindu girl in Bangladesh.
Fact
The girl in the video is not Hindu, she was targeted due to her association with the Bangladesh Chhatra League.
A video has gone viral on several X profiles claiming that a Hindu girl was captured, insulted and “drowned” in a pond. Those sharing the viral video have also claimed that she was targeted due to being a Bangladeshi Hindu. See the post here and here. See screenshots of the posts below.
Newschecker’s investigation revealed that the viral claim shared online along with the video is false.
Fact Check
We conducted reverse image searches on key frames of the viral video. The searches revealed multiple instances of the video shared on different social media platforms, suggesting that the girl is a member of the Bangladesh Chhatra League, the student wing of Bangladesh’s Awami League, from the Brahmanbaria district (B.Baria). These videos have been available on social media since August 7. See similar videos here, here, here and here.
AUDIO ANALYSIS
An analysis of the audio from the video provided further insights. The crowd can be heard using phrases like “S**t, call your senior vai (brother),” “beat her! She tortured all these girls (general students),” and derogatory terms referring to the Chhatra League. The language used by the crowd and the girl’s nodding in response to accusations of being a Chhatra League member strongly suggest her association with the organisation.
Video Correlation
Additional evidence we found, in a related video on Facebook, posted by a user named Mohammad Mostafa on August 10. This video shows a woman in a black kurta and red dupatta rummaging through a pink handbag, the same woman is also seen in the viral clip harassing the victim, who also has the same pink handbag. In this video posted by Mohammed Mostafa the black kurta woman is seen revealing a polling agent card with the name Afsana Ebad, confirming the identity of the girl in the viral video.
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The card revealed that the individual served as a polling agent for a candidate whose electoral symbol was a Horse. Through keyword searches, it was found that Md. Helal Uddin, a candidate in the Brahmanbaria Sadar Upazilla Chairman Election 2024, also used the Horse as his electoral symbol. This candidate is affiliated with the Awami League. See reports here.
We tried to reach the Upazilla Election Office, BrahmanBaria, but it was not possible due to the recent unrest.
Location Verification
We looked to further confirm the location depicted in the viral video and the video posted by Meta user Mohammad Mostafa. Several users who shared the same viral video identified the location as Tank er Par, which is also visually evident in the video itself.
In these key frames taken from the video posted by Mohammed Mostafa, a building with a turquoise green colour and arch-shaped windows can be seen clearly. A portion of the same building can be seen in the viral clip we are investigating as well.
To confirm its geolocation, we looked at Google Maps. and found a similar blue-coloured building and the pond in that area.
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Further, a similar frame from the Google Maps photos that matched the viral video. Here is the link to the Google map.
Newschecker reached out to two local journalists Nur and Prakash of BrahmanBaria working for Samakal and Channel 24 News channels, respectively, who confirmed that she was beaten and humiliated due to her association with the Chhatra league and that she did not belong to any minority group.
We also talked with a local eyewitness of the incident, Deloar Hossain, who among others posted the viral clip. He confirmed to Newschecker over the phone that the girl who was seen in the viral clip being tortured by a group of people was a Chhatra league worker. Hossain also confirmed that she was a Muslim girl and she was initially wearing a burqa before she was attacked.
Conclusion
Based on the evidence and eyewitness accounts, it can be concluded that the girl in the viral video is not Hindu and was targeted due to her association with the Bangladesh Chhatra League.
Result: False
Sources
Newschecker’s analysis
Google Maps
Conversation with eyewitnesses
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