Fact Check: Viral video of old man harassing burqa-clad woman is scripted

Hyderabad: A video reportedly from Bangladesh of a bearded man touching a woman inappropriately is circulating on social media with the claim that the video captured a real incident.

An X user shared the video and wrote, “There were abusive words in the video so it was muted. This is a video from Bangladesh. Look at the age of the old man. And later when the girl slapped him twice, the old man said that I was in a hurry and it touched me by mistake.” (Archive)

Fact Check

NewsMeter found that the claim is false. The video is scripted.

Upon conducting a reverse image search, we found that a Facebook account called Azizul 2.0 posted the video on September 11, 2024. However, the post did not include any details.

We also found another video on the account featuring the same bearded man and the woman in a burqa, both wearing identical outfits as in the viral video, posted on September 12. According to the post’s caption, the bearded man in the video was hired for the video.

We skimmed through the account and found the bearded man featured in several videos, which confirmed that the account posts scripted videos. Click here, here and here to view the videos.

We also found that the user behind the account is Azizul Haque Morad, who operates another account by his name, based in Bangladesh. According to his account bio, he is a video creator. We also found several videos posted on this account featuring the same bearded man.

Click here, here and here to view the videos.

NewsMeter has reached out to Morad for clarification regarding the viral video, as well as other content he shares on social media. This story will be updated as soon as he responds.

Hence, we conclude that the viral video is scripted and does not show a real incident of harassment.