Video of Student Leader From Bangladesh Falsely Shared With a Communal Twist

This video shows Sagarika Akhter, a leader of Chhatra League a student organisation of Sheikh Hasina's Awami League.

A video showing a mob making a woman do sit-ups publicly is going viral online to claim that it shows a Hindu woman being abused in Bangladesh.

It further states that the video shows Jyotika Basu Chatterjee, from a humanitarian organisation, who was later 'sexually assaulted' by Muslim men.

(Archives of similar claims can be seen here and here.)

What's the truth?: The claim is false as the woman is not a Hindu.

• This video shows Sagarika Akhter, a leader of the Chhatra League, a student organisation of former Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's Awami League.

How did we find out the truth?: We found a reply to the viral claim shared by a Bangladeshi journalist and fact-checkers, Shohanur Rahman, who stated that this video shows a Muslim woman, Sagarika Akhter, who is a Chhatra League leader from Eden Women's College.

• Akhter worked for a student organisation of former Bangladesh's PM Sheikh Hasina's Awami League and was being punished for "standing against students and torturing them using political power".

• He also stated that this video is from 17 July.

She is Sagarika Akhter, a Muslim and a female Chhatra League leader from Eden Women's College. This video and incident is from July 17.

She is not Jyotika Basu, as mentioned in your fabricated story.

She was punished for standing against students and torturing them using… https://t.co/s6WJI3ll1x pic.twitter.com/k3ErhAC4hM

— Shohanur Rahman (@Sohan_RSB) August 9, 2024

• He also attached a link to a report shared by a Bangladeshi website, Daily Inqilab, which stated that several Chhatra League leaders of Eden Women's College fled from the scene as the students' protests took a violent turn.

• Another Bangladeshi reporter, Mahdy Hasan Talha, also shared the viral video and stated that it shows Akhter was detained and made to do sit-ups by the students when she tried to escape.

We contacted more reporters from Bangladesh, who confirmed that this incident does not involve a communal angle.

Md Shabuj Mahmud, Senior Broadcast Journalist from Independent Television, Bangladesh, mentioned that the students treated Akhter, a leader of Chhatra League, this way because she "abused her power" for 15 years.

Shahed Siddique, Head of Input from Independent Television and Qadaruddin Shishir, Fact Check Editor at AFP Bangladesh also shared the same details with us.

Conclusion: A false communal angle is being given to a video of a leader being made to do sit-ups in Bangladesh.

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