Video Does Not Show Hindu Woman Raped And Tortured In Bangladesh
CLAIM: Video shows a Hindu woman who was raped and tortured in Araihazar village of Narayanganj in Bangladesh.
FACT CHECK: A local journalist confirmed to BOOM Bangladesh that the woman in the video is Lovely Begum, a Muslim, who was chased by a mob on suspicions of being a robber in Bangladesh's Narayanganj area.
A video of a distressed woman surrounded by a mob in Bangladesh has surfaced with a false communal claim that a Hindu was raped and tortured in Bangladesh's Narayanganj area.
BOOM found no communal angle to the incident. It shows a Muslim woman crawling out of a canal after being chased by a mob in Bangladesh's Narayanganj area over suspicions of an alleged robbery.
The disturbing visuals show a woman crawling out of a bush in wet clothes, looking incoherent and weak. The footage also shows someone from the crowd shining a torchlight on her, while another person assuring her that they will not beat her.
An X user posted the video with the caption, "A Hindu woman was raped and tortured in Araihazar village of Narayanganj. This is how the extremists made fun of her, no one came forward to help her!"
Note: The video is distressing in nature.
Click here to view the post and here for an archive.
Fact Check
BOOM ran a keyword search about the assault on a woman in Bangladesh's Narayanganj area and found several news articles by Bangladeshi outlets featuring similar visuals. The news reports state that the woman was chased by a mob on suspicions of a robbery, and she jumped into a canal to escape.
According to a report published by Bangladesh-based Somoy News on December 27, 2024, police stated that on the night of December 26, a group of seven to eight robbers was preparing to intercept a car on Ilumdi Road in Kahindi village. Realising what was happening, the villagers chased them. While most of the robbers managed to escape, one, Billal, and his associate, Lovely, were caught by the mob. Billal died on the spot after being beaten by the angry crowd, while Lovely jumped into a canal to escape.
The report further mentioned that upon receiving information, police arrived to recover the body and rescue an injured Lovely.
BOOM Bangladesh then reached out to Mohammed Nazrul Islam, news editor of a local portal Araihazar Times, for further verification regarding the viral claim. Islam refuted the communal claim, stating that the woman is a Muslim and was beaten over her alleged involvement in a robbery.
Islam told BOOM Bangladesh, "The name of the woman is Lovely Begum and she is a Muslim. She is a resident of Narayanganj's Araihazar upazila, and her father's name is Mohammed Idris Ali. Begum now lives in the house of her maternal grandmother. She is a drug addict and has been involved in various drug-related incidents and other misdemeanors. We are however not sure about her involvement in robbery."
Islam and his team had also recorded a reaction from Lovely while she was in the hospital. In the video shared by Araihazar Times' Facebook page, she can be heard saying that she was attacked by robbers while traveling in an autorickshaw and became their hostage. She also claimed that the auto driver fled and informed the local residents, after which the robbers were beaten, and Lovely was beaten as a suspect.
The video byte was uploaded to the Facebook page of Araihazar Times on December 27, 2024.
Click here to view the post and here for an archive.
(This story was originally published by boom, and republished by english.varthabharati.in as part of the Shakti Collective)
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
Three company directors held in Rs 100-crore investment fraud in Kochi
Kochi (Kerala) (PTI): Police on Sunday arrested three directors of a firm accused of cheating hundreds of investors of over Rs 100 crore through a fake investment scheme linked to agricultural tourism here, officials said.
The accused were identified as Muraleedharan, Ashik Murali and Akhil Murali, all natives of Thrissur.
The arrests were made by the Kalamassery police in connection with a fraud involving ATCOS (Agri Tourism Cooperative Society), a firm headquartered at Pathadipalam here.
Police said the company had promised high returns by collecting investments from the public in the agricultural tourism sector, but allegedly cheated hundreds of people and fled with the money.
ATCOS was registered under the Multi-State Cooperative Societies Act and operated 13 branches across various districts in Kerala, besides a branch in Coimbatore in Tamil Nadu, officials said.
When investors failed to receive their promised returns or the invested amount, complaints were filed with the police.
Officials said around 54 cases have been registered against the firm in 32 police stations across the state, including 29 cases at the Kalamassery police station alone.
Following instructions from Kochi City Police Commissioner K S Mahesh Kumar, a special investigation team was formed under the supervision of Deputy Commissioner of Police (Law and Order) Shehensha and Thrikkakara ACP Manoj Kumar.
The team traced the accused to an apartment in Amala Nagar in Thrissur, where they had been hiding after secretly renting the flat, officials said.
The bank accounts of the accused have been frozen, and steps have been initiated to trace their assets, officials said.
Police also conducted a raid at the company’s office at Pathadipalam and seized several documents related to the case.
The accused were produced before the Judicial First Class Magistrate Court in Kalamassery, which remanded them to judicial custody and sent them to Kakkanad jail.
Police said they would seek the custody of the accused for further interrogation as the investigation continues.
