Video of attack in India spread to claim lack of safety in Bangladesh
A woman is seen walking down a road with a child when several armed individuals suddenly approach and attack her. A video showing this scene was recently circulated on Facebook. The footage was shared by a Facebook page named Dhaka Insider to express concern over the state of public safety in Bangladesh. However, a fact-check by Dismislab found that the incident did not occur in Bangladesh but in the Indian state of Maharashtra.
On July 8, Dhaka Insider posted a 31-second video on its Facebook page. The video shows several young men armed with weapons attacking a woman. The caption reads, “People in the country have no safety today.” So far, the post has been shared 63 times, and the video has been viewed more than 3,500 times. One commenter wrote, “Alas Bangladesh, alas the people, alas the government. May Allah deliver justice”.
Using the same caption, Dhaka Insider also shared the video in several public Facebook groups and pages, including Supporters of Bangladesh Awami League, Manoniyo Prodhanmontri Sheikh Hasina, Prodhanmontri Sheikh Hasina, and Bangladesh Awami Projonmo League.
A reverse image search using key frames from the video led Dismislab to multiple reports published by Indian news outlets (1, 2). A report on the website of the Maharashtra-based newspaper Lokmat contains images that exactly match the scenes in the circulated video.
According to the news reports, the attack took place on June 19 in the city of Latur, Maharashtra, over a longstanding dispute. A nine-member “Koyta Gang” carried out the assault in the Bhaswadi vegetable market to pressure a family into withdrawing a case filed at a local police station. The husband, wife, and their son were seriously injured in the attack. A case has been filed against nine individuals in connection with the incident.
Therefore, the video being circulated to claim that people in Bangladesh have no safety actually depicts an incident that occurred in Maharashtra, India.
It is worth noting that this is not the first time footage from India has been used to question the security situation in Bangladesh. Dismislab has previously published multiple fact-check reports (1, 2) debunking similar claims circulated on social media.
