Fact Check: Christian tribal woman assaulted in Bangladesh for not wearing hijab? Here’s the truth
A video is going viral on social media with the claim that a Christian tribal woman in Bangladesh was assaulted by Muslim men for not wearing a hijab.
By - Newsmeter Network
Claim:The video shows a Christian tribal woman in Bangladesh being assaulted for not wearing a hijab.
Fact:The claim is false. The video shows a third gender person being assaulted under the false accusation of being a member of the student wing of the Awami League.
Hyderabad: A video showing a group of men harassing a woman is going viral on social media with the claim that it shows a Christian tribal woman being assaulted by Muslim men in Bangladesh for not wearing a hijab.
The video shows a woman being assaulted and forced to do squats as a punishment by one of the men. She was surrounded by a large crowd of onlookers, who were recording the incident on their mobile phones.
Sharing this video on X, a user wrote, “Kanglus beat up a Christian woman for not wearing hijab in Cox’s Bazar sea beach.” (Archive)
A post claiming that the victim is a Christian tribal woman can be found here. (Archive)
Fact Check
NewsMeter found that the claim is false. The video shows a transgender person being assaulted by men who presumed her to be associated with a certain student political party. There are no reports to show that she is a Christian woman from a tribal community.
Using reverse image search of the viral video keyframes, we found a report published by a Bangladesh-based news outlet, Ajker Patrika, on September 14, 2024. The report used a screenshot from the viral video as the cover image.
The title of the report reads, “The victims of harassment at Cox’s Bazar beach are of the third gender, as per the complaint filed.” According to the report, several women and transgender persons were harassed and assaulted by Mohammad Farukul Islam at the Sugandha Beach area of Cox’s Bazar.
The Ajker Patrika report stated that the victim is Arohi Islam, who identified herself and other victims/witnesses as belonging to the third gender.
A report published by another Bangladeshi news website, Prothom Alo English, on the same day, stated, “Local traders said detained Farokul had been identifying himself as ‘coordinator’ of Student Against Discrimination, the student body that led the student-mass uprising that toppled the Sheikh Hasina government, for several days and carrying out different activities in the sea beach area.”
Several reports about the incident were published by various Bangladesh news outlets such as The Daily Post, Dhaka Tribune, Dainik Bangla and BBC Bangla. The reports confirm that the victim, Arohi Islam, is a Muslim belonging to the third gender. The incident occurred on September 11. There are no reports stating that the victim is a Christian tribal woman.
Channel i News shared a video on September 14, 2024, from its Facebook page, with the caption, “Case filed over harassment of woman on the beach; youth arrested… A case has been filed over the incident in which a woman was forced to do sit-ups while holding her ears and was beaten at Cox’s Bazar sea beach. The woman who was harassed, Aarohi Islam, filed the case naming two accused (Model Police Station Case No. 40/24).”
The video shows Arohi Islam and the additional superintendent of police of Cox’s Bazar, Jasim Uddin Chowdhury, speaking about the incident.
In the video, Arohi Islam says that she was a tourist. The assailants accused her of being a sex worker and falsely identified her as a member of Chhatra League. Bangladesh Chhatra League (BCL) is the official student wing of the Awami League, the party led by Sheikh Hasina.
“He also accused me of being a sex worker. If I were one, he would have found me in a brothel, red-light area, or a hotel, or caught me doing something illegal with a man. Only then could he accuse me,” said Arohi Islam.
She further said, “I was only standing and using my phone. He suddenly came and snatched it. When I asked why, he slapped me and said, ‘You are a Chhatra League worker; you were seen in the student movement.’ Since he accused me of being with the Chhatra League, he must show proof — any photo, any video of me in student protests, anything. You cannot treat someone like this without any crime.”
The video shows a third gender person being beaten by attackers who falsely identified her as a member of the student wing of the Awami League. Therefore, NewsMeter concludes that the viral claim is false.
