Fact Check: Old Video From Hathras Stampede Falsely Shared On Social Media In Name Of Anti-Minority Violence In Bangladesh

PTI Fack Check found that the video showing Hindu women murdered in Bangladesh is fake and is from the Hathras stampede.

Amid the rising incidents of atrocities against the minority community in Bangladesh, a video recently went viral on social media, claiming that it showed how Hindu women were raped and murdered in Bangladesh. However, the PTI Fact Check Desk found in its investigation that the video was shared on social media with a false claim and showed victims of a stampede in Uttar Pradesh’s Hathras in July this year.

On July 2, thousands of people, mostly from disadvantaged sections of society, gathered in Hathras to listen to a ‘godman’ preach. As he left the venue, they ran out to catch a final glimpse of him and knelt down to collect the mud on which he had walked. A stampede broke out, killing 121 people, most of whom were women.

Claim

A Facebook user shared on December 5 a video, claiming that it showed Hindu women who were raped and murdered by people from the Muslim community in Bangladesh.

Here's the link, archive link, and the screenshot of the post.

Screenshot of the post claiming Hindu women were raped and murdered by people (PTI)

Investigation

The Desk ran a keyframe of the video through Google Lens and found that a similar video showing women's bodies was uploaded on YouTube on July 2, 2024, which looked somewhat similar to the viral video.

Here is the link to the video and below is a screenshot of the same:

Screenshot of the post claiming Hindu women were raped and murdered by people (PTI)

The title of the video stated that it was from Hathras, where 122 people had died in a stampede.

Taking a cue from this, the Desk conducted a customised keyword search on Google and found an Instagram post with the same video as the viral post.

The caption of the July 5 post also stated that it was from Hathras.

Here is the link to the post and below is a screenshot of the same:

Screenshot of the post claiming Hindu women were raped and murdered by people (PTI)

We also came across a news report by the Times of India on the incident posted on July 10, 2024. The feature image of the article was the same as the visuals shown in the viral video

Here's the link and screenshot of the news article by the Times of India.

screenshot of the news article by the Times of India. (PTI)

Subsequently, the Desk concluded that an old and unrelated video was falsely shared in the name of violence against Hindus in Bangladesh.

CLAIM Video shows Hindu women murdered in Bangladesh. FACT The video is from the stampede that happened in UP’s Hathras in July this year.

CONCLUSION

Multiple social media users shared a video claiming that it showed Hindu women murdered by Muslims in Bangladesh. In its investigation, the Desk found that the video showed women killed in a stampede that happened in UP’s Hathras in July this year. The old and unrelated video was shared on social media as recent with a false claim.

(Note: This copy was first published byPTIand republished by ETV Bharat as part of Shakti Collective.)