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.
Pankaj Menon is a fact-checker based out of Delhi who enjoys ‘digital sleuthing’ and calling out misinformation. He has completed his MA in International Relations from Madras University and has worked with organisations like NDTV, Times Now and Deccan Chronicle online in the past.
Claim
An Arab man helps his two wives remove their burqas at a gymnasium so that they could train in their activewear.
Fact
Video is scripted, made by a Brazilian digital creator.
A 46-second video, purportedly showing an Arab man helping two women remove their burqas at a gymnasium so that they could train in their activewear, has gone viral on social media, evoking reactions of surprise from users.
“Sheikh was asked, why are you removing the hijab of your wives? Sheikh Saheb replied: I am not a Convert, I am an Original Sheikh and This is My Personal Choice,” read one X post, which has clocked 1.5 million views so far, suggesting that Indian Muslims are not recognised as Muslims by Arabs.
The archived version of the post can be seen here.
Fact Check
Newschecker ran a reverse image search of keyframes, which led us to this X post by a Turkish anti-disinformation page, dated October 19, 2024, and sharing the same video.
“The video of a man dressed as an Arab is seen taking off the headscarves and clothes of women (thought to be his wife) in the gym. A scripted video of a Brazilian-based content producer named ‘Sheikh do Tocantins’, who introduces himself as a ‘Brazilian Sheikh’,” read the X post, translated from Turkish.
The tweet led us to the July 5, 2024 Instagram post of digital creator Sheikh do Tocantins, sharing the video. “Sheikh accompanies some of his wives in training at his gym chain,” read the post, translated from Portuguese, with the hashtags #reels #humour. The Facebook post can be seen here, too, which states the video was recorded at gym/fitness centre Skyfit Academias, which has branches across the country.
We looked up the Instagram account of Sheik do Tocantins, who calls himself the first sheikh of Brazil, where we found several scripted videos, which confirms that the viral video was staged.
Also Read: Viral Video Does Not Show Baba Siddique’s Shooter Justifying His Assassination
Conclusion
Scripted video by Brazilian digital creator falsely shared as Arab man with his wives at gymnasium.
Result: False
Source
X post, October 19, 2024
Instagram post, Sheikh do Tocantins, July 5, 2024
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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.
Pankaj Menon is a fact-checker based out of Delhi who enjoys ‘digital sleuthing’ and calling out misinformation. He has completed his MA in International Relations from Madras University and has worked with organisations like NDTV, Times Now and Deccan Chronicle online in the past.
