A video of a distressed woman surrounded by a mob in Bangladesh has surfaced with a false communal claim that a Hindu was raped and tortured in Bangladesh's Narayanganj area.
BOOM found no communal angle to the incident. It shows a Muslim woman crawling out of a canal after being chased by a mob in Bangladesh's Narayanganj area over suspicions of an alleged robbery.
The disturbing visuals show a woman crawling out of a bush in wet clothes, looking incoherent and weak. The footage also shows someone from the crowd shining a torchlight on her, while another person assuring her that they will not beat her.
An X user posted the video with the caption, "A Hindu woman was raped and tortured in Araihazar village of Narayanganj. This is how the extremists made fun of her, no one came forward to help her!"
Note: The video is distressing in nature.
Click here to view the post and here for an archive.
Fact Check
BOOM ran a keyword search about the assault on a woman in Bangladesh's Narayanganj area and found several news articles by Bangladeshi outlets featuring similar visuals. The news reports state that the woman was chased by a mob on suspicions of a robbery, and she jumped into a canal to escape.
According to a report published by Bangladesh-based Somoy News on December 27, 2024, police stated that on the night of December 26, a group of seven to eight robbers was preparing to intercept a car on Ilumdi Road in Kahindi village. Realising what was happening, the villagers chased them. While most of the robbers managed to escape, one, Billal, and his associate, Lovely, were caught by the mob. Billal died on the spot after being beaten by the angry crowd, while Lovely jumped into a canal to escape.
The report further mentioned that upon receiving information, police arrived to recover the body and rescue an injured Lovely.
BOOM Bangladesh then reached out to Mohammed Nazrul Islam, news editor of a local portal Araihazar Times, for further verification regarding the viral claim. Islam refuted the communal claim, stating that the woman is a Muslim and was beaten over her alleged involvement in a robbery.
Islam told BOOM Bangladesh, "The name of the woman is Lovely Begum and she is a Muslim. She is a resident of Narayanganj's Araihazar upazila, and her father's name is Mohammed Idris Ali. Begum now lives in the house of her maternal grandmother. She is a drug addict and has been involved in various drug-related incidents and other misdemeanors. We are however not sure about her involvement in robbery."
Islam and his team had also recorded a reaction from Lovely while she was in the hospital. In the video shared by Araihazar Times' Facebook page, she can be heard saying that she was attacked by robbers while traveling in an autorickshaw and became their hostage. She also claimed that the auto driver fled and informed the local residents, after which the robbers were beaten, and Lovely was beaten as a suspect.
The video byte was uploaded to the Facebook page of Araihazar Times on December 27, 2024.
Click here to view the post and here for an archive.
