A video of an actor dancing on the streets at a protest in Kolkata is viral misidentifying the woman as a doctor in West Bengal (WB) protesting against the rape and murder at the RG Kar Medical College and Hospital.
BOOM identified her as Mokksha Sengupta who said that she is an actor by profession and not a doctor. She added that the video is from a protest held in Jadavpur's Santoshpur area, against the brutal rape and murder of a trainee doctor at the RG Kar hospital.
Several groups and doctors in West Bengal are sitting in protest demanding justice and thorough investigation in the rape and murder of a 31-year-old doctor on August 9, 2024, at the RG Kar hospital. The case that has left the country seething over the lack safety of women especially medical professionals, has also made headlines over allegations of a cover up with grave lapses on part of the WB administration.
The Supreme Court of India recently took suo motu cognizance of the case, expressing concern over the lack of workplace safety in healthcare institutions.
The 2-minute, 18-second video starts with a woman surrounded by a crowd, dancing to a Bengali poem turned song, 'Karar Oi Louho Kopat' by poet Kazi Nazrul Islam.
An X user shared the video with the caption, "True spirit of Bengal awakens. Thanks Mamata Banerjee. "Kalli Nrutyam" by Woman Doctor protesting Ghost of R, G Kar in Kolkata, a Lady Doctor became as Bhadrakali".
Click here to view the post and here for an archive.
Fact Check
BOOM was able to identify the woman as Mokksha Sengupta, a Bengali and South Indian film industry actor.
We first found a post identifying the dancer as 'Actress Mokksha' and using this as a specific keyword search on Facebook we found the actor's profile, where on August 31, she shared the same viral video as a Facebook live video.
Click here to view an archive of the post.
Another Facebook user also live-streamed the dance from the Santoshpur protest on August 31, tagging the actor.
On her Facebook profile, Mokksha Sengupta stated that she was a student of Psychology (Honors) at Ashutosh College in Kolkata.
Sengupta told BOOM, "The protest was organised by an NGO, Mrittika in Jadavpur's Santoshpur area, Kolkata, on August 31, 2024, where the video was recorded. I am an artist and former teacher with a BSc in Psychology (Honors), now primarily working in the South Indian film industry... I am a Bengali actor but left West Bengal two years ago."