An old video showing a teacher inappropriately touching a young girl at a coaching center in Bangladesh is being falsely shared as an example of the conspiracy theory "Bhagwa Love Trap", happening in India.
This conspiracy theory alleges that Hindu men target Muslim women for conversion to Hinduism by feigning love. It is a direct response to the right-wing conspiracy theory "Love Jihad". This has led to many recent incidents of moral policing of inter-faith couples sparked by the campaign against “Bhagwa Love Trap".
In the viral video, a man can be seen sexually assaulting a minor girl, who is sitting with other female students. The video is being shared with the caption, "Now see this and remember what Maulana Sajjad Naumani Sahab said few days ago if the girl is trapped in such Filthy place in the name of education and classes what is the use of this Filthy education #Savemuslimgirls #Bhagwa_Love_Trap #bhagvalovetrap"
The same video is being shared on Facebook with the same claim. The caption, when translated from Hindi to English, reads, "Even after seeing all this, if a Muslim is sending his young girls to school, college's, universities institute's coaching classes, then there is no bigger shameless person than him. #bhagwalovetrap #exposeblt"
FACT-CHECK
BOOM found that the viral video is from Barisal, Bangladesh, and it had gone viral on social media in July 2020.
We broke the video into key-frames and performed a reverse image search using Google which showed Facebook posts from July 2020 stating that the viral video is from Barisal district in Bangladesh. The captions alleged that it shows Nurul Haque, head teacher of Uzirpur Sonar Bangla Secondary School, sexually assaulting a student.
The caption, when translated from Bangla, reads, "Drawing the attention of the administration. Mr. Nurul Haque, headmaster of Sonar Bangla Secondary School, Uzirpur, Barisal district. Private teaching to students with great care."
(In Bangla - প্রশাসনের দৃষ্টি আকর্ষন করছি। বরিশাল জেলার উজিরপুর সোনার বাংলা মাধ্যমিক বিদ্যালয়ের প্রধান শিক্ষক নুরুল হক সাহেব। অনেক ভাল যত্ন নিয়ে ছাত্রীদের প্রাইভেট পড়াই।)
Taking a hint from this we then searched with the keywords like, "Nurul Haque", "Bangladesh", "Sonar Bangla Secondary School, Uzirpur, Barisal district" and found several Bangladeshi news reports on the incident.
The man in the video was identified to be Nurul Haque Sardar, the head teacher of Sonar Bangla Secondary School in Barisal district of Bangladesh. According to Daily Naya Diganta he had opened a private coaching center for girls in a rented room next to the school, where the viral video was shot.
In June 2016, the video of the sexual harassment of female students who went to study at the coaching center had gone viral on social media. Barishal Crime News reported on July 9, 2020, that after the video went viral he was fired.
We can see the same visuals in the below news report from July 10, 2020.
Click here to view
