An old and distressing video of a gangrape of a woman in Bengaluru has resurfaced on Bangladeshi Telegram channels with false claims that Muslim students of Dhaka University sexually assaulted a Hindu woman.
The screenshots of the horrific rape is further circulating on Facebook and X with captions claiming that during the quota protests in Bangladesh a Hindu woman was raped and filmed by Muslims.
BOOM had already debunked the video in October, 2023, when it went viral with claims that Hindus had raped a Christian woman in Manipur.
Bangladesh is witnessing a fresh round of violence with anti-government protesters demanding the resignation of Awami League Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. With more than 95 killed on Sunday the country has declared an indefinite curfew, internet shutdown and three-day public holiday to curb the violence. Protesters have also organised a Dhaka March on August 5, where thousands are expected to turn up on the streets of Dhaka to march towards Sheikh Hasina's residence.
The video is circulating with a caption in Bangla that translates to: We have to teach a lesson like this to Hindus. All Hindus are agents of India. During the protests a Hindu woman was sexually abused and enjoyed by four / five of our brothers.
The incendiary caption makes calls to sexually assault Hindu women.
BOOM has chosen not to include the video due to its disturbing nature.
Below are screenshots of the video circulating on Facebook and X.
Fact Check
BOOM was able to ascertain that the screenshots of the video is from an old gangrape incident that occurred in Bengaluru.
We first checked the Telegram channel Islamic Army: Latest Version and found the same video shared from the channel on July 26, 2024.
We had earlier run a relevant keyword search and found screengrabs from the same video that were used as a featured image on News Bangla 24 to report about a Bengaluru rape incident of a Bangladeshi citizen.
According to the report, the kingpin of a trafficking racket operating between Bangladesh and India Ashraful Mondal alias Boss Rafi and Abdur Rahman confessed to the crime in Dhaka's court. The report also mentioned the horrific video which showed five men disrobing a woman and sexually assaulting her.
According to an NDTV report from May, 2021 the gut-wrenching video of the attack, was circulated on social media and it generated immense outrage. Visuals from the video "showed a woman being tortured by the accused and even showed them inserting a bottle in her private parts. The 22-year-old was later allegedly gang raped." Bengaluru police nabbed the assailants and completed the investigation in a 'short span of five weeks.' Bengaluru Police Commissioner Kamal Pant tweeted the same.
The case was being handled by the Whitefield Police who tracked down six of the accused. The other five accused were arrested later by the Ramamurthynagar Police.
The incident happened in east Bengaluru's Ramamurthynagar in the first week of May, 2021. Police arrested 12 Bangladeshi nationals including three women for the assault and rape of the 22 year old. A Times of India report stated that the accused were identified as Shobuj Sheik, Rafiq, Ridoy Babu, Rakibul Islam Sagar, Mohammed Babu Shaik, Hakil, Ajim, Jamal, Dalim, Nasrath, Kajal and Tanya. Ridoy Babu was also a famous TikToker from the country and involved in trafficking women. Babu, along with Rafiq and Shobuj would bring women from Bangladesh to India on the pretext of getting them jobs and would later force them into prostitution. The report further said that Rafiq and Shobuj were angry with the gangrape survivor as she weaned away from the group and helped women escape from the racket. As an act of revenge, they assaulted her.
A Bengaluru court on May 21, 2022 found 11 people guilty of the charges and they were all convicted.