Fact-Check: Old Video of Assault on Woman Falsely Linked to Bangladesh Violence

The video was falsely given a communal spin as well, claiming that it showed assault against a Hindu woman.

(Trigger Warning: Mention of sexual assault.)

A distressing video and screenshots from the same video showing a woman being sexually assaulted by several people is being shared on social media to claim that it is from Bangladesh.

The claim also states that it shows Muslim men assaulting a Hindu woman.

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

What's the truth?: We found out that this video is from Bengaluru, Karnataka and dates back to 2021.

• It shows a Bangladeshi woman being sexually assaulted by other Bangladeshi men.

• 12 accused were arrested in this case by the Bengaluru police by July 2021.

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How did we find out the truth?: A reverse image search on the viral image on Google along with relevant keywords and this led us to reports of this incident from 2021.

• The Quint had reported about the viral video on 28 May 2021.

• It mentioned that this video was recorded on 27 May 2021 and was from Bengaluru.

• It also stated that the victim (22) was traced to Kerala and was brought back to Bengaluru for her statement to be recorded.

• The video first went viral in Assam, claiming that it was from the northeastern part of India. However, later the victim was identified as a Bangladeshi citizen by the police in Bengaluru and authorities in Dhaka, Bangladesh.

• Police Commissioner of Bengaluru had shared on X (formerly Twitter) about this case which was registered at Ramamurthynagar Police Station.

• On 8 July 2021, the Commissioner shared an update on the case mentioning that a total of 12 people were arrested in this case.

More reports about the incident: Several media outlets reported about this on 8 July 2021 including The Indian Express, Scroll, Hindustan Times and NDTV.

• The reports mentioned that the Bengaluru police submitted 1,019-page chargesheet and arrested 12 persons, including two women.

• It also added that 11 of them were Bangladeshi nationals.

• A senior city police officer stated that seven of the accused in the case were sentenced to life imprisonment, one woman to 20 years, one man to five years, and two women to nine months.

• The reports included the names of the main accused as per the charge sheet: Shobuj Sheik and Rafiq alias Rafsan, along with their associates Ridoy Babu, Rakibul Islam Sagar, Mohammed Babu Shaik, Hakil, Ajim, Jamal, Dalim, Nasrath, Kajal, and Tanya.

Conclusion: An old video from Bengaluru showing a woman being sexually assaulted in being falsely shared as from Bangladesh.

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