Fact Check: Viral video does not show Maryam Nawaz Sharif being slapped in public

Hyderabad: A video of Maryam Nawaz Sharif, daughter of the former prime minister of Pakistan Nawaz Sharif, swarmed by people and being hit by a man from the back, is going viral on social media. Users claim that she was slapped out of anger while insinuating that the video is recent.

One of the users who shared the video captioned it, “Maryam Nawaz has received a slap, this is an expression of public hatred, now the fun of humiliation has started in the middle of the intersection...Who slapped her?? (sic)”

Several X users shared the video, making the same claim in Urdu. Click here, here, here and here to view the posts.

Fact Check

NewsMeter found that the video shows Maryam Nawaz Sharif being accidentally struck by her security guard in 2020, who was trying to protect her from the crowd outside a court.

Upon a reverse image search of the video’s keyframes, we found it on Facebook, posted by the verified page of the Pakistani news outlet Express Tribune on September 23, 2020, titled ‘Maryam Nawaz struck by own guard outside court.’

According to the caption, after she was swarmed by party supporters outside the Islamabad High Court (IHC), she was accidentally hit by a member of her security detail as he was trying to control the crowd.

We also found the video in a report by The Express Tribune, published on September 23, 2020. It said the guard’s fist hit the PML-N leader as he was trying to control the crowd. She could be seen holding her shoulder and shrieking in pain. It also mentioned that the video shows her husband, Capt (retd) Safdar pushing people back and consoling her.

A video report by 24 News HD showing the same visuals also said that Maryam Nawaz was accidentally hit by her security guard Shakur Haider as he was trying to protect her from the crowd.

A report by Samma TV showing the same visual from a different angle also said that Maryam Nawaz was hit by her security guard.