An 18-second clip of a woman with a bloodied face is being widely shared on social media with the claim that the woman is a Bangladeshi Hindu business owner. The woman had apparently rented out her house to some individuals who were Muslims. The same tenants allegedly brought in some more men who were also from the Muslim community and around 35 individuals sexually assaulted her.
Premium subscribed X user Deepak Sharma (@SonOfBharat7) shared the above-mentioned clip on November 12 with a caption in Hindi that can be translated as: “Ufff… The video is from Bangladesh, watch it carefully… This woman had a well-established business in Bangladesh. She had rented her house to Muslim tenants. Yesterday, those same tenants called some other Muslims, took over her house, and about 35 Muslims raped her.” The tweet has received more than 2.66 Lakh views and has been retweeted over 5,100 times. (Archive)
Readers should note that the above user has been found amplifying misinformation several times in the past.
Another premium subscribed X user Baba Banaras™ (@RealBababanaras) who has been found using the platform to disseminate misinformation several times in the past shared the viral video with the following caption: “Horrific video is from Bangladesh, watch it with wide eyes. This woman had a big business in Bangladesh. She had Muslim tenants in her house. Yesterday the same radical called some other 35 radicals and took over her house and raped her. They didn’t ask the caste before doing this.” The video has received over 3.87 Lakh views and has been retweeted over 4,600 times. (Archive)
Several other users such as @ajaychauhan41, @MishraBRIJESH13, @ocjain4 also shared the viral clip with the same claim.
Fact Check
After breaking down the video into several keyframes, we ran a reverse image search on some of them. This led us to a YouTube video posted on November 11 which carried the viral video. The video title in Bengali can be translated as: “I strongly condemn the brutal attack on Kahinur/Kohinur Begum, a member of the National Committee of the Bangladesh Krishak (Farmers) League.” The Bangladesh Krishak League is a wing of the Awami League, the political party led by the erstwhile prime minister of Bangladesh Sheikh Hasina.
We found another video of the incident posted on YouTube where the title said: “Student crowd bloodies young woman on Bangabandhu Avenue, suspecting her to be an Awami League activist”. This provided context as to why she was targeted.
We searched on Facebook with similar keywords and found several posts which all referred to the woman in the video as Kahinur/Kohinur from Bangladesh Krishak League.
One such post from a user S M Nore Alam mentioned the woman’s name to be Kahinur/Kohinur Akhtar. The caption of the post read: “Kahinur/Kohinur Akhtar, a member of the National Committee of the Bangladesh Krishak League, was subjected to violence yesterday by the fascist, illegal Yunus government and BNP thugs. We will definitely seek justice on the soil of Bangladesh, Inshallah. The coming days will belong to us. Feminists are silent!”
Upon searching for the given name, we came across a Facebook page titled ‘Kahinur Akhter‘. Below is a comparison of an image from her Facebook profile with a screengrab from the viral video.
This shows that the woman in the viral video is Kahinur Akhter, who is not a Hindu.
Additionally, we found several other posts on Kahinur’s page that show her involvement in the Bangladesh Krishak League. Below are two images from her Facebook page where she is seen wearing a headband and a badge reading “Bangladesh Krishak League.”
We also found fact-check reports from Bangladeshi news outlets that confirm that the woman in the video is Kahinur Akhter. A report from Prothom Alo mentioned that Akhter is a member of the Central National Committee of Bangladesh Krishak League and a member of the Patuakhali District Krishak League. On November 10, she became a ‘victim of mob justice by BNP-Jamaat-Shibir’ while attending a program of Bangladesh Awami League on the occasion of Shaheed Noor Hossain Day, and was later arrested.
Therefore, the claim associated with the viral video that the woman is a Bangladeshi Hindu who was raped by 35 Muslim men is false. The woman’s name is Kahinur Akhter, and she is a member of the Bangladesh Krishak (Farmers) League. The woman in the viral video is not Hindu, nor is the claim of sexual assault true.
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