A video showing a few men rescuing a girl who is tied and kept immersed in water is viral with the claim that it shows a Muslim girl forcibly immersed in water by her in-laws, to make her conceive a child on the advise of a Muslim seer.
BOOM found this claim to be false; our fact-check reveals that this video is an enactment, made by a content creator called Ankur Jatuskaran, and does not show a real-life scenario.
The video shows two men arriving at a small pond where a girl is seen tied up and immersed in water. A few people present in the area tell them that she has been kept there by her family to make her conceive a child. The two men then rescue the girl, when they are confronted by a woman who claims to be her mother-in-law.
BOOM received this video on WhatsApp with a Hindi caption, that translates to English as, "Look at the science of Islam, Jhar Phuk Wale Pir Baba said, if you keep a girl immersed in water for 12 days, a child will be born. The Muslim girl was kept immersed in water by her mother-in-law and her husband forcibly by tying her hands and legs for a total of 6 days. Watch full video."
We also found the same video being shared with the same captions on Facebook and Twitter.
Click here to view an archive of the above post.
Click here to view an archive of the above tweet.
Fact Check
Looking through the posts sharing the video with the viral caption, BOOM found a suggestion on one of the posts on Facebook which read, "Watch more original videos by: Ankur Jatuskaran".
This led us to the Facebook page of content creator Ankur Jatuskaran, who posts scripted and enacted videos.
Looking through the videos Jatuskaran had posted, we came across a longer and clearer version of the viral video.
We compared the images Jatuskaran posted of himself on his Facebook page, which confirmed to us that he was one of the men seen rescuing the girl in the viral video.
Furthermore, looking through the longer version of the video posted by Jatuskaran, we found a disclaimer at the 0:30 mark, which read, "The content made in this video should be considered for entertainment purpose only." It further add, "Any roleplay we perform is solely to entertain you and not intended to hurt the sentiments of any person or community."
This confirms that the viral video contains an enacted and scripted scenario, and does not show a real-life incident.
