Photo of Pak actress used to falsely claim Osama Bin Laden’s daughter married Hindu man

A viral message suggests that Osama Bin Laden’s daughter has embraced Hinduism and is getting married to singer Pradeep Maurya. “Osama Bin Laden’s daughter has embraced Hinduism and said that Islam is the worst religion in the world. Bin Laden’s daughter Zoya is getting married to singer Pradeep Maurya next month,” reads the message.

(Translated from: ओसामा बिन लादेन की बेटी ने हिन्दु धर्म अपनाया और कहा दुनिया का सबसे बेकार व गंदा धर्म है इस्लाम ओसामा बिनलादेन की बेटी जोया और सिंगर प्रदीप मौर्या की शादी अगले महीने.)

ओसामा बिन लादेन की बेटी ने #हिंदू #धर्म🚩 अपनाया और कहा कि दुनिया का सबसे बेकार व गंदा धर्म इस्लाम है उसने आर्य समाज मे हिन्दू लड़के से शादी की उसने इस्लाम धर्म की सारी लड़कियों से कहा कि वे अपने भविष्य और सम्मान को सुरक्षित रखने के लिए हिन्दू धर्म ही एक मात्र विकल्प है pic.twitter.com/SBsFutwjQ2

— 🚩🇮🇳अमिता सोनी🇮🇳🚩 (@AmitaSoni3) September 24, 2020

The claim is also circulating on Facebook

The same purported newspaper clipping has been doing the rounds on social media since at least 2014. Below is a tweet by Prashant Patel Umrao who has often been found sharing misinformation.

Osama Bin Laden’s daughter Joya is going to marry Pradip Maurya, Bhojpuri Singer of UP.#HDL pic.twitter.com/iU3R4if5JT

— Prashant Patel Umrao (@ippatel) August 6, 2014

Fact-check

A reverse-image search of the woman’s photograph on Yandex led us to a blogpost which identified her as Pakistani actor Syra Yousuf. She has a verified account on Instagram with 1.5 million followers.

There are no reports of Yousuf having any ties to the Bin Laden family or converting to Hindusim. She was married to Pakistani actor Shahroz Sabzwari for seven years until their divorce in February 2020.

Furthermore, there are no reports of Osama Bin Laden having a daughter named Zoya. According to his profile in CNN, he had 24 children with six wives. The profile lists the names of all the children.

The man featured in the manufactured clipping is Bhojpuri singer Pradeep Maurya however there are no reports of him getting married to Bin Laden’s daughter.

The claim that Osama Bin Laden’s daughter ‘Zoya’ embraced Hindusim and will get hitched to Bhojpuri singer Pradeep Maurya is false. Bin Laden does not have any daughter by that name. This misinformation is frequently revived on social media.