Recent unrest in Bangladesh is leading to several misleading posts being shared on social media platforms. Lighthouse Journalism came across one such post where a could be seen whose hands and legs were tied and she sat publicly while the passersby stared at her. A tape was also seen pasted on her mouth. We also saw a person carrying a video camera in the video. It was claimed along with the post that the video depicts the plight of the Bangladeshi Hindus after the Sheikh Hasina government was toppled. During the investigation we found the claim to be misleading. The video was a part of a street play and is not recent.
Claim:
X user Jitendra Pratap Singh shared the viral video on his profile.
Check the archive version of the claim.
Other users too are sharing the video with the same claim.
Investigation:
We started the investigation by running a reverse image search on the keyframes obtained from the video.
We found the video uploaded on Facebook around 20 days ago.
The title of the video suggested it to be from Jagannath University.
We also found the video uploaded on a Facebook page named, ‘JnU Short Stories‘.
The description said (translation): The girl is going through trauma today because of your rumours. The girl is a regular student of Jagannath University in the academic year 2021-22. This video is the scene of the street play as a protest against Abantika’s suicide a few days ago! But some people shared the video on Facebook, presenting the girl as a leader of the Chhatra League with references to the current agitation period, which went viral instantly. The girl is going through the trauma of seeing this. Today, if the girl commits suicide like Abantika, who will take her responsibility? Everyone stand by the girl, wherever you see this video, report it with protest in the comments. Please stop this rumor by sharing this post as much as possible
The caption suggested that the video was also in Bangladesh with misleading claims.
We found a few news reports about the suicide of Jagannath University student too.
We then connected with a senior fact checker from Bangladesh Tanvir Mahatab Abir, who told us, “This is the scene of a silent protest performance by an ordinary student of the music department of Jagannath University last March.”
Conclusion: Old video of a silent protest by a student of Jagannath University, Bangladesh goes viral with claims stating the video shows the recent plight of Hindus in Bangladesh. Viral claims are misleading.
