Fact Check: Old clip of land dispute brawl in Bangladesh falsely shared as recent Hindu persecution
Amid reports of anti-Hindu violence in Bangladesh, a video allegedly showing Muslim men attacking Hindu women in the country was widely shared. In the video, two men can be seen beating up a group of women with sticks and unleashing punches. This clip was shared with captions like, “Radical Muslims are openly trying to kill Hindu women!”
Such posts were also shared with hashtags like “Save Bangladeshi Hindus”, “Hindu Genocide In Bangladesh”, and “Free Chinmoy Krishna Das” — the last one referring to the Hindu priest who was recently charged with sedition in Bangladesh.
India Today Fact Check has found that the video is more than two years old and unrelated to the present unrest.
OUR PROBE
Upon reverse-searching keyframes from the viral video, we found a YouTube video on the channel of Prothom Alo, a leading Bangladeshi news outlet. The video was dated June 3, 2022, making it evident that the incident predated even the ouster of former prime minister Sheikh Hasina.
According to the YouTube video, this incident took place in the Sitakund region of Chittagong. Reportedly, the two sides brawled over plucking jamun, also known as black plum or Indian blackberry. Reportedly, one of the women got injured during this and was later admitted to a hospital.
A Dhaka Tribune report noted this incident took place on June 2, 2022, and three women seen in the video were identified as Rani Das, Anjana Das, and Rima Das. The men were identified as Touhidul Islam and Alamgir.
Tapan Das, Rani’s brother-in-law, told reporters that male members of their family live abroad. Hence, Touhidul’s family tried to forge the documents to take over their land — adding that trouble between the two families had been going on for years. However, on June 2, 2022, when Rani and Rima saw Touhidul plucking berries from a tree, they went to stop them. Then, Touhidul attacked them. The local police said that Rani Das accused nine people in her complaint.
We also found another news report from June 3, 2022, featuring a copy of a complaint filed by Touhidul against the Das family alleging they had threatened him over the disputed land for many years and that they had hit his son with an iron rod. Another report, however, quotes the local police official stating that the main accused, Touhidul was later arrested.
Thus, it is clear that although the video originally featured two groups from different religions, it is more than a couple of years old and related to a land dispute.
