Old Video From Bihar Falsely Shared as From West Bengal's Sandeshkhali

This video dates back to 2021 and shows an incident from Saran, Bihar.

Fact-check: An old video of molestation of a woman by a group of men in Bihar is going viral as from West Bengal.

(Photo: Altered by The Quint)

(Trigger warning: Mentions of sexual harassment. Reader discretion advised)

A distressing video showing a woman riding pillion on a bike getting physically assaulted by a group of men is going viral on social media.

What is the claim?: The claim states that this is a recent video from West Bengal's Sandeshkhali, which shows a Hindu woman being attacked.

(Note: We have refrained from adding any archive links due to disturbing nature of the visuals.)

We received this claim on WhatsApp.

(Source: WhatsApp/Screenshot)

The truth: This video is from Saran, Bihar and is unrelated to West Bengal.

• The video dates back to September 2021.

• The police had taken suo motu cognisance of the matter and lodged an FIR against six persons.

How did we find out the truth?: We performed a reverse image search on some of the keyframes of the video and found an old Facebook post of the video.

• The video was posted on 5 October 2021, and the caption read that the video is from Bihar's Chhapra city.

• We also came across a Hindi news report from Daily News posted on 6 October 2021.

• The report carried screenshots from the viral video and stated that this took place in Bihar's Saran district.

• It added that after the District SP Santosh Kumar started investigation about the viral video, four accused were arrested.

• Another report from Hindustan Times also states that this incident happened in Saran district’s Lakshman-Chak locality under Dariyapur police station on 27 September 2021.

The report is from October 2021.

(Source: HT/Screenshot)

• It also stated that no complaint was filed by the victims but the police took suo motu cognisance of the matter and lodged an FIR against six persons and also arrested the prime accused who recorded the video.

What is happening in West Bengal?: A village in West Bengal's North 24 Parganas district, Sandeshkhali, has been witnessing protests by women residents who are alleging atrocities and sexual harassment committed against them by local Trinamool Congress (TMC) leaders.

• Several women claimed that they were allegedly molested by absconding TMC leader Shahjahan Sheikh and his two aides on several occasions.

Conclusion: An old video of the molestation of a woman by a group of men in Bihar is going viral as from West Bengal.

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