Does This Video Show Hindu Sadhu Being Forced to Convert in Bangladesh?

Claim: A video showing a group of young men in Bangladesh giving a haircut and shave to a homeless man, was shared in India with a claim that a Hindu sadhu (ascetic) was forcibly converted to Islam.

Fact: BOOM found that the person being claimed to be a sadhu is a Muslim named Rezaul Kabir, who had been missing.

Tools used: BOOM first broke the video into keyframes and found that a longer version had been uploaded on Instagram by a Bangladeshi user on November 7, 2024. In the longer version of the video, a volunteer made an appeal to help identify the homeless man. Taking a cue, BOOM Bangladesh tracked down the video creator, Mahbub Sorkar, who posted the same video on his Facebook page on November 1, 2024. BOOM Bangladesh then reached out to the video creator, Mahbub Sorkar, who debunked the communal claim and clarified that the person in the video is a Muslim. Additionally, BOOM Bangladesh reached out to Robiul Hasan, the elder brother of the man seen in the viral video. Hasan shared an identity document and earlier photos as proof of his brother, Rezaul Kabir, while identifying him in the viral video.

Read the full fact-check here.