Fact Check: Pakistani minister assaults couple on camera? Here’s what happened
Claim: The video shows Pakistan’s Punjab education minister, Rana Sikandar Hayat, assaulting a woman and her partner after they participated in a recent protest in Lahore.
Fact: The claim is false. The incident occurred in 2021, and the man in the video is Usman Mirza.
Hyderabad: A viral video shows a man assaulting a woman and her partner in a room. Those sharing the clip claim it features education minister Rana Sikandar Hayat from the Maryam Nawaz government attacking the couple for participating in a protest against the sexual assault on a woman in Lahore.
Giving a hypothetical communal angle to the incident, X handle, Baba Banaras, infamous for peddling misinformation, shared the video (trigger warning: visuals of violence) and wrote, “An incident has come to light from Pakistan which has shaken the entire world. In Pakistan’s Punjab province, Education Minister Rana Sikandar Hayat in the Maryam Nawaz government stripped a girl and assaulted her in front of a camera. The crime of that girl and her partner was that they had participated in the protest against the assault of a girl at Lahore University. Now just imagine that when a Pakistani minister can openly do this to a Muslim woman in front of the camera, then what will the people of Pakistan do with the Hindus?” (Archive)
Fact Check
NewsMeter found that the claim is false. The incident occurred in 2021. The man assaulting the couple is Usman Mirza, not Pakistan’s Punjab education minister, Rana Sikandar Hayat.
We conducted a reverse image search of the video’s keyframes and found the same visuals featured in video reports by Pakistani news outlets ARY News and BOl News. Both reports identified the main accused as Usman Mizra.
Further, we ran a keyword search and came across a report by The Tribune published on March 25, 2022, titled ‘Usman Mirza, four others get life imprisonment.’ The report carried the image of Usman Mirza, and he was sentenced after ‘a video of the culprits harassing a couple at gunpoint went viral on social media in July 2021.’
According to the report, then PM Imran Khan, upon taking note of the case, instructed the Islamabad IG to ensure the accused received the harshest possible punishment. The Islamabad High Court directed the trial court to conclude the trial within the first two months, later extending it by an additional three months. Usman Mirza, along with Idris Qayyum Butt, Mohib Khan Bangash, Hafiz Ataur Rehman and Farhan Shaheen were subsequently sentenced to life imprisonment.
In an article dated March 25, 2022, Dawn reported that a sessions court in Islamabad sentenced Usman Mirza to life imprisonment for holding a couple at gunpoint, forcing them to strip, assaulting them and filming the ordeal. The article also noted that Mirza’s accomplices and co-accused—Hafiz Ataur Rehman, Adaras Qayyum Butt, Mohib Bangash and Farhan Shaheen—were also sentenced to life in prison, while two other men, Umar Bilal and Rehan Hassan Mughal, were acquitted.
Lastly, we searched for reports accusing Rana Sikandar Hayat of sexual assault but found no such claims in the Pakistani media. Hence, we conclude that the video is from 2021 and does not show the Punjab education minister sexually assaulting a woman on video. The claim is false.
(This story was originally published by newsmeter.in, and republished by english.varthabharati.in as part of the Shakti Collective)
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'Homebound' makes it to Oscar shortlist for best international feature
Mumbai (PTI): Neeraj Ghaywan's much acclaimed "Homebound" is among the 15 films shortlisted in the best international feature category at the Oscars, moving a step close to the final five nominations and maybe a win.
The movie, inspired by a true story that became the basis of a news article during the pandemic, has been creating a global buzz since its debut in the Un Certain Regard category at the Cannes Film Festival this May.
Hollywood legend Martin Scorsese is a fan and has come onboard as an executive producer ahead of the award season.
Produced by Karan Johar and Adar Poonawalla, and starring Ishaan Khatter, Vishal Jethwa and Janhvi Kapoor, "Homebound" is Ghaywan's second movie after "Masaan".
"Homebound" will compete for an Oscar nomination alongside Argentina's “Belén”, Brazil's “The Secret Agent”, French drama "It Was Just an Accident”, Germany's "Sound of Falling” and Iraq's "The President's Cake".
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The other movies in the shortlist include Japan's “Kokuho”, Jordan's “All That’s Left of You”, Norway's “Sentimental Value”, Palestine's “Palestine 36”, South Korean hit “No Other Choice”, Spain's “Sirat”, "Late Shift" from Switzerland, “Left-Handed Girl”from Taiwan and Tunisian drama “The Voice of Hind Rajab”, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced in a release on Tuesday.
The award for best foreign film, now re-categorised as best international feature, has so far eluded India.
Only three Indian films have received nominations in the category -- Mehmood Khan’s “Mother India”, Mira Nair’s “Salaam Bombay” and Ashutosh Gowarikar’s “Lagaan”. Deepa Mehta’s “Water”, starring John Abraham and Lisa Ray, also received a nomination but it was submitted from Canada.
Gujarati film "Chhello Show" in 2023 was the last film to get shortlisted.
Costume designer Bhanu Athaiya was the first Indian to get an Oscar, bagging the coveted prize in 1983 for the film "Gandhi". Other than her, A R Rahman, Resul Pukootty and M M Keeravani have also won individual Oscars.
Team "Homebound" celebrated the shortlist news with posts on social media.
"We made the shortlist... Way to go team Homebound'!" Johar shared in Instagram Stories.
In a post, the producer said it was difficult for him to articulate how "proud and elated" he was with the news.
"All of us @dharmamovies are privileged to have this proud and important film in our filmography... thank you @neeraj.ghaywan for making so many dreams of ours come true... from Cannes to being on the Oscar shortlist this has been such an overwhelming journey! Love to the entire cast and crew and teams of this special special film! Upwards and onwards...."
Ghaywan also shared the news on X.
"#Homebound has been shortlisted for Best International Feature Film at the 98th Academy Awards! We are deeply grateful for the extraordinary love and support we've received from around the world," he wrote on X with a special poster of the film.
Jethwa, who plays one of the two friends in the story opposite Ishaan Khatter, said the moment feels "surreal and incredibly humbling".
"To see 'Homebound' being shortlisted and progressing towards the Oscars is something I could have only dreamed of. I am deeply grateful for the love and support the film has received from audiences around the world," he said as he acknowledged Johar, Ghaywan and co-star Khatter and the rest of the team.
Khatter also shared the news on his Instagram stories and wrote, "Oscar ab dur nahi".
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"Homebound" is inspired by journalist Basharat Peer's The New York Times article “Taking Amrit Home”, also titled "A Friendship, a Pandemic and a Death Beside the Highway".
The film portrays the childhood friendship between a Muslim and Dalit who chase a police job that promises them the dignity they have long been denied due to their surnames.
The Academy on Tuesday also announced shortlists in 11 other categories, including the newly added casting Oscars, animated shorts, cinematography, documentary feature, documentary short, original score and song, sound and visual effects categories.
Nominations for the 98th Academy Awards will be announced on Thursday, January 22, 2026.
Twenty-four categories will be awarded at the 98th Oscars. Each category has five nominees, except for best picture, which has 10.
The 98th Oscars will be held on Sunday, March 15, 2026, at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles.
