A video from Bangladesh showing a mob assaulting and pelting stones at a young man accused of theft is being shared on social media with the false communal claim that it shows a Hindu youth being stoned to death.
BOOM found that there is no communal angle to the incident and the youth in the video was attacked after being accused of stealing a mobile phone in Dhaka's Jatrabari on June 16, 2026.
The Claim:
The video is being shared on social media with the communal claim that it shows a Hindu being murdered in Bangladesh.
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What We Found:
1) Young Man Assaulted on Allegations of Theft
We ran a keyword search on Google and found several Bangladeshi local news channels that reported on the incident. The reports mention that the youth was accused of stealing a mobile phone in Jatrabari and had jumped into the drain to escape the mob.
2) Man in the video is alive
We also found a video report posted by Bangladeshi news outlet Doshdik on June 16 stating that he was caught snatching a mobile phone in the Jatrabari area, after which locals had assaulted him. The report mentioned that the youth in the video was injured and not killed in the incident.
We also found other videos from the same incident showing the youth emerging from the drain, holding his ears and apologising to the crowd.
We then contacted Doshdik, who denied any religious angle to the incident and stated that they did not know the identity of the man.
In Doshdik's Facebook live at the 1:35 mark, the person recording claims that the young man frequently stole people's mobile phones and that a few days ago, he had snatched his mobile phone as well.
3) Local restaurant owner confirms incident
BOOM Bangladesh contacted the owner of a restaurant seen in the video, who said the incident took place about a week ago in the afternoon. He said the man was caught stealing a phone and was assaulted by locals, but clarified that he was not killed.
