Fact Check: Muslim man fakes disability? No, scripted video goes viral with communal spin
A video circulating on social media claims to show a Bengali Muslim man faking blindness and loss of limbs for money.
By - Rahul Adhikari
Claim:The video shows a Bengali Muslim man faking disability for money, claiming blindness and loss of limbs.
Fact:False. The viral clip is scripted. It is being falsely shared online with a communal angle.
Hyderabad: A video has gone viral with the claim that it shows a Bengali Muslim man begging for money while faking blindness and disability.
The clip features a man who appears to be an amputee and blind. He can be seen sitting on a cycle van. A group of men approach and confronts him. It turns out he has legs but was faking it.
One user posted the video on X and wrote, “A Muslim man was posing as disabled and lame while begging in Hindu villages. Local youths caught him red-handed — he was neither blind nor lame, just fooling the villagers. He ran away once he was caught.” (Archive)
Text on the video read, “Rohiya Bengali was sitting on a cycle van with his legs folded while his wife was pulling him and he was caught.” (Translated from Hindi)
Fact Check
NewsMeter found that the claim is false. A scripted video was circulated online with a communal spin.
Analysis of the video
We conducted a reverse image search on the key frames of the viral video and found that the video was first shared on Facebook on March 2. A page named Shyam Marg posted the video.
On reviewing the page and its content, we found that the video is scripted.
The page’s bio read, “All the videos posted on this page are scripted and have been made to create awareness and prevent fraud, so if you receive such messages, you should be careful.” (Translated from Hindi)
The creator’s account featured several videos on fraud, elopement, child abduction and more.
Who is the man in the video?
We found the man, who appears blind and disabled, playing different roles in other scripted videos. He is not blind. One of these scripted videos was shared on social media with a communal commentary.
We have added a comparison image below showing that the man who appears disabled and blind in the video appears normal in another scripted video.
NewsMeter have reached out to the creator for clarification on the video. The fact-check will be updated after we receive a response.
Based on the evidence, we conclude that the claim is false.
