An unrelated video of a man applying sindoor on a deceased woman's forehead and completing wedding rituals at the latter's funeral in Assam is circulating on Facebook with false claims that it shows Bengali actor Sabyasachi Chowdhury and the late actress Aindrila Sharma.
BOOM found the claim to be false. The video is from Assam where a resident Bitupan Tamuli applied sindoor on his deceased girlfriend Prarthana Bora's forehead, put garlands and completed the Hindu wedding ritual after the latter died.
The video is viral in the backdrop of actor Aindrila Sharma's death. Sharma died on November 20, after suffering multiple cardiac arrests in a private hospital in Howrah. She was battling an advanced stage of a rare type of cancer Ewing's sarcoma. She was admitted to a hospital on November 1 after suffering from a brain stroke. Aindrila Sharma's actor-boyfriend Sabyasachi Chowdhury has been a constant support to the ailing actress and has expressed his affection for her on multiple ocassions.
The Bengali caption with the video translates to, "The fight was going on (while she was) lying in the hospital. Everyone was praying for her. Everyone wanted a miracle. But even after such a long fight, Aindrila Sharma left everyone crying".
(Original Text in Bengali: হাসপাতালে শুয়ে লড়াইটা চলছিল। সবাই প্রার্থনা করছিলেন তাঁর জন্য। সবাই চাইছিলেন একটা মিরাকল হোক। কিন্তু এত দীর্ঘ লড়াইয়ের পরও সবাইকে কাঁদিয়ে চলে গেলেন ঐন্দ্রিলা শর্মা)
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Fact Check
BOOM noticed a comment on one such Facebook post stating that the video is an incident of Assam. Taking a cue, we ran a related keyword search and found an ETV Bharat news article from November 19, 2022, carrying the same video.
The video is captioned as, "Man marries dead girlfriend at her funeral".
The report states, "According to the bride's family, Bitupan and Prathana Bora were in love with each other for quite a long time and that they were aware of the relationship. His family too was in the know of things and they had already made the wedding plans before the untimely demise of Prathana."
It further adds, "The man even pledged in front of the dead body that he will remain single all his life".
According to India Today NE, "Prarthana was battling with an incurable disease for a long time. Yet the duo did not stop looking forward to a life together and was planning for their wedding for some time now."
Assamese news outlet Sentinel Assam also reported about the incident.