A set of three distressing videos showing moral policing incidents where trans women were harassed and physically assaulted in Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh is being shared with false and communal claims by Indian social media users.
One of the videos show a trans woman pleading for her phone which was confiscated by a local who assaulted her in the name of moral policing. Two other videos show women being beaten publicly by the same man.
Incidents of moral policing have led to brutal vigilante style attacks by conservative Muslims on sex workers and other marginalised groups, since the fall of the Sheikh Hasina government in August. However, videos of the same are being used to spread communal misinformation in India.
The videos are circulating on WhatsApp and X with false claims that Hindu women in Bangladesh markets were beaten for not wearing hijab and burkhas.
Right wing X account Panchjanya (@epanchjanya) shared the clips with a caption in Hindi that translates to: "Wear hijab and burqa or leave Bangladesh!" Hindu girls are being openly targeted in the market in Bangladesh."
The videos are distressing in nature.
Fact Check
BOOM ran a reverse image search on one of the keyframes from the videos and found several news reports by Bangladesh news outlets. In one of the videos, the assaulted woman identifies herself as Aarohi Islam and says that she is a Muslim.
According to a report by Dhaka Tribune, the incident took place in the city of Cox's Bazar, located in the southeast coast of Bangladesh. The report identified the assailant as Mohammad Farokul Islam.
The report describes the visuals seen in the video. "In one of the videos, Farokul, armed with a stick, forces a woman to do sit-ups on the beach while holding her ears, verbally abusing her throughout the ordeal. Another woman was seen pleading with police officers near Sugandha Beach, asking them to help her retrieve her mobile phone, which the group had stolen. In a separate instance, a woman is seen being repeatedly beaten with a stick by Farokul as she begs him to stop."
According to the report, the assailants had posted the videos on Facebook, bragging about the attacks.
Farokul was later arrested on Friday (September 13) and a case was filed against him at Cox's Bazar Sadar Model police station.
Aajker Patrika further stated that Aarohi Islam, a transgender woman had filed a complaint against Farokul Islam. The same was corroborated by Cox's Bazar OC Mochhiur Rahman. Apart from Islam, six others have been arrested based on the complaint. Aarohi Islam, 20, a trans woman was at Cox's Bazar's Sugandha Beach for a trip on September 11, 2024 when Islam and others intercepted them and harassed them. Farokul Islam identified himself as a student coordinator and attacked Aarohi's group.
Dainik Azadi reported that when a group of students asked women and trans women to leave the beach in Cox's Bazar on September 11, a few disagreed. One among them was forced to do sit ups as the public watched.
BOOM reached out to Toufiqul Islam Lipu , Cox’s Bazar correspondent of Independent TV, who corroborated the incident.
Lipu told BOOM, "All of them seen in the video are Muslim tourists. There was no communal angle and the accused attacked them and tried to morally school them. The group also beat women and transgender (women) for roaming in the beach at night."
Farokul has since been arrested and sent to Cox's Bazar jail.