Mock auction of Kurdish women in London passed off as Taliban atrocities in Afghanistan

Social media users are sharing videos about the plight of Afghanis after the Taliban takeover. Some videos show natives thronging Kabul airport in a bid to flee the

By Satya Priya BN  Published on  20 Aug 2021 5:15 AM GMT
Mock auction of Kurdish women in London passed off as Taliban atrocities in Afghanistan

Social media users are sharing videos about the plight of Afghanis after the Taliban takeover. Some videos show natives thronging Kabul airport in a bid to flee the country. Some show Taliban fighters marrying Afghan women.

Another video showing men dressed as sheik selling chained women in a market. This video is shared with a claim in Hindi: "वक़्त बदलते देर नहीं लगती।जो लोग बोल रहे थे कि हिन्दुओ की बहन, बेटी और बहु 2-2 दीनार बेची थी। अब उन लोगो की खुद की उसी बाज़ार मे आज बिक रही हैं और वो खुद बेच रहे है उसी बाज़ार मे-----"

"Time does not take long to change. For those who said Hindu sister, daughter, and daughter-in-law had been sold in 2 dinars. Now those people are selling themselves in the same market today (sic)," read the English translation.

https://www.facebook.com/rajan.bhardwaj.75/videos/123927933212928

Archive links:

https://web.archive.org/web/20210817062621/https://twitter.com/NiteshT99194430/status/1427473902838583323

Fact Check:

The claim is FALSE.

When the extracted keyframes from the video are searched using Google, we found that the video with the caption: "London, Sale of women."

https://vk.com/wall245527086_729146

Using these keywords along with the keyframes fetched several news reports by international media outlets published in 2014. The video belongs to a mock auction of women by Muslim men. It was an attempt to show the 'Islamic State sex slave market' staged by Kurdish activists in 2014.

According to a report published by Huffington Post in 2016, the group `Compassion 4 Kurdistan' was responsible for the stunt. "We have four women for you here today and we are here to sell them courtesy of the Islamic State," said one of the members.

Another article by Huffington post states, the protest saw a group of chained veiled women being led in front of the Houses of Parliament, Leicester Square and Downing Street - where costumed men urged the public to bid on them.

"This happens every day in Iraq and Syria. We are bringing it to you," a man can be heard saying as four chained women scream desperately for help.

According to an article published on bbc.com in 2014, the video shows the group's supposed ringleader bellowing into a microphone. Behind him stand a group of women - all actors - fully covered and chained together. "We have four women for you here today," the man said. "We are here to sell them courtesy of the Islamic State."

Shot on 14 October, the stunt was organized by Compassion 4 Kurdistan, a group of Kurdish Diaspora trying to raise awareness of IS's alleged actions in Iraq. It has now been viewed more than 250,000 times on YouTube. On the same night, the group performed the scene outside Downing Street and the Houses of Parliament as well.

Therefore, the video is a mock auction by Kurdish activists on the streets of London. The claim that it is from Afghanistan is FALSE.

Claim Review:Taliban atrocities in Afghanistan
Claimed By:Social Media Users
Claim Reviewed By:Newsmeter
Claim Source:Social Media
Claim Fact Check:False
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