A video of a makeup artist, who used makeup to recreate bruises on her face and neck as part of a dramatised recreation, is going viral online falsely misidentifying the former as the 31-year old doctor who was raped and murdered at Kolkata's RG Kar Medical College and Hospital earlier in August,
BOOM found the video does not show the murdered doctor but a Kolkata based makeup artist that created the dramatised video using make up to recreate injuries.
A 31-year old trainee doctor was raped and murdered while on night shift duty at Kolkata's RG Kar Medical College and Hospital on August 9, 2024. The victim, a second-year MD student in the Chest Medicine department, was found murdered in the hospital's seminar hall. The tragic crime has sparked nationwide protests by the medical fraternity and civil society groups calling for safety of women in India. The incident has also led to widespread criticism of Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress Party and Kolkata Police's handling of the case.
The viral video shows a woman who appears to be visibly distressed and bleeding from the nostrils, touching her neck where injury marks appear to be seen.
The clip, which has been overlaid with music, is being shared with the caption "(Victim's name) to her mother before her last breath / we want justice Please share as much as possible."
Note, Indian law prohibits revealing the identity of a sexual assault victim.
The same video is being shared on WhatsApp with the caption, "RGkar Hosp Rape incident...Dr.(victim's name) last movement selfIe video out, her throat was seriously injured, Couldn't able to speak, After this video..the brutality took place".
BOOM also received the viral video on our WhatsApp helpline number (7700906588).
FACT-CHECK
BOOM found that the woman in the viral video is a makeup artist from Kokata who has been posting dramatised videos and photos of injury marks recreated using makeup to raise awareness about rape.
We checked several posts on Facebook with the viral video and found a post crediting the video to a makeup artist named Zeenat Rahman.
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We also found several comments under the post that had tagged the Facebook handle of Rahman, which is currently locked stating that she is a makeup artist and had created the viral video. We found that Rahman's Facebook and Instagram handles are currently locked.
Taking a hint from this we then found another account of Rahman, whose bio also states that she is a makeup artist in Kolkata and had been posting from that account till 2020.
In the posts we can see the same woman that is in the viral video. Rahman had posted several photos on the Facebook group Makeup Artists, of herself using makeup to recreate bruises.
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Rahman had previously posted a photo of herself sporting bruises on her forehead and her hand gagging her mouth, in a post titled 'Rape awareness' on October 1, 2020,
Click here to view an archive.
A comparison of another photo on the page shows that she is the same woman seen in the viral video.
BOOM has reached out to Rahman, the article will be updated if we hear back from her.