Fact Check: Viral post on Pakistani man marrying his own blood sister makes a false claim
Claim: Pakistani man marrries his own blood sister
Fact: A photo of a Pakistani-origin Muslim family wedding in 2021 in Texas is being shared with false claim
It is not uncommon in some Muslim families to combine the wedding receptions of their two sons. However, a Pakistani family took the wedding celebrations a notch higher. The wedding ceremony in Punjab province witnessed six brothers tying the knot with six sisters from the opposite family. The grooms’ family wanted to promote simple marriages in the society and therefore conducted the joint wedding without dowry.
Meanwhile, an image purportedly showing a newly married couple is being shared on social media with the claim that a Pakistani man married his own blood sister.
The viral post, showing the photo of a newly married couple with the ARY News channel logo, is captioned, “Another gem of Islam! A Pakistani man got married to his own blood sister and said in our religion everything is fine. This is called true "Mauj-HUB"!”
he viral post link is here and archive link here.
Here’s the screenshot of the viral post.
During the investigation, the Telugupost Fact Check team found this claim to be false.
Since the viral post has two clues — logo of ARY News and the Budbak account on Facebook, we first began the investigation by scanning the social media pages of Pakistani news channel ARY News. The posts on the X account of ARY News were found showing the channel ID in the middle and accompanied by graphics in Urdu.
However, ARY News channel does not follow the same template across its various social media channels. On other platforms, you will find the ARY New logo at the right side of the screen.
Here’s the comparison of viral graphic and original graphic image on the Pakistani news channel.
When we ran the viral image of the couple through Google Lens tool, we came across Zawaj marriage bureau, a matrimonial site in Pakistan, featuring the couple pics shown in the viral post.
During the Google Reverse Search, we found Tara Arseven Photography website showcasing the pics of a Pakistani wedding in Frisco, Texas in the first week of April 2021.
She also posted a few pics of the wedding on her official Facebook account on March 27, 2021.
We then searched for Budbak on Facebook but we could not find the viral post on the timeline. It seems the user may have deleted it.
With regard to the investigation and social media posts, we can conclude that the groom and bride of Pakistani-origin are not related by blood. They belong to different Pakistani Muslim families who came to know each other through mutual friends. Hence, the claim is false.
(This story was originally published by telugupost.com, and republished by english.varthabharati.in as part of the Shakti Collective)
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Indian visa application centre suspended indefinitely in Bangladesh's Chattogram
Dhaka (PTI): India on Sunday suspended visa operations at its mission in Bangladeshi port city of Chattogram until further notice, according to media reports.
The move comes in the wake of a fresh wave of unrest witnessed in the country following the death of prominent youth leader Sharif Osman Hadi.
His death triggered attacks and vandalism across Bangladesh, including stone-hurling at the Assistant Indian High Commissioner's residence in Chattogram on Thursday.
Hadi, a prominent leader of the student-led protests last year that led to the ouster of the prime minister Sheikh Hasina-led Awami League government, was a candidate for the scheduled February 12 general elections.
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He was shot in the head on December 12 by masked gunmen at an election campaign in central Dhaka’s Bijoynagar area and died while undergoing treatment in Singapore on December 18.
“Due to the recent security incident at Assistant High Commission of India (AHCI) Chittagong, Indian visa operations at IVAC Chittagong (Chattogram) will remain suspended from 21/12/2025 until further notice,” the Indian Visa Application Centre (IVAC) said in a brief statement.
The announcement for reopening the visa centre will be made after reviewing the situation, the statement added. The decision came into effect on Sunday.
There are five IVAC facilities across Bangladesh at Dhaka, Khulna, Rajshahi, Chattogram and Sylhet. An IVAC official told PTI that the other four offices have remained operational as of Sunday.
India on Thursday resumed operations at its visa application centre in Dhaka, a day after closing it over escalated security concerns, but closed for a brief period two other identical facilities in Rajshahi and Khulna as anti-India protestors tried to march towards the Indian missions there.
On Saturday, security was strengthened at the Indian Assistant High Commission office and the visa application centre in Bangladesh's Sylhet city.
The enhanced security measures were put in place to ensure that “no third party can exploit the situation,” Additional Deputy Commissioner (Media) of the Sylhet Metropolitan Police Saiful Islam was quoted as saying by The Dhaka Tribune newspaper on Saturday.
Hadi, 32, was laid to rest on Saturday amid extra-tight security beside the grave of National Poet Kazi Nazrul Islam near the Dhaka University mosque.
Tens of thousands of people attended the funeral prayers, and ahead of the ritual, chanted anti-India slogans like “Delhi or Dhaka - Dhaka, Dhaka” and “brother Hadi’s blood will not be allowed to go in vain.”
Earlier on December 17, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) summoned Bangladesh envoy Riaz Hamidullah and conveyed its strong concern over certain extremist elements announcing plans to create a security situation around the Indian mission in Dhaka.
“We expect the interim government to ensure the safety of Missions and Posts in Bangladesh in keeping with its diplomatic obligations,” it said.
The envoy was apprised of India's strong concerns about the deteriorating security environment in Bangladesh, it added.
