Staff Correspondent

Fact-checking organization Rumor Scanner in an investigation debunked a video showing an apparently injured woman emerging from a pond or canal at night has been circulating on social media, with claims that a Hindu woman was being raped and tortured in Bangladesh by Muslims.

"We confirmed that the woman in the video is not Hindu; her name is Lovely Akter. The claim of rape of the woman is also false. The video actually depicts a woman, allegedly linked to a group of robbers, emerging from a pond after attempting to escape. She was allegedly beaten and handed over to the police," said a report of the fact-checking body published on its website on Friday.

The report said recently, a video showing an apparently injured woman emerging from a pond or canal at night has been circulating on social media, with claims that a Hindu woman was being raped and tortured in Bangladesh by Muslims.

A social media handle, @FarazPervaiz3, on X (formerly Twitter), posted the video with the caption: "A Hindu woman was brutally raped and tortured in Araihazar village of Narayanganj. This is how the Muslims made fun of her, with no one coming forward to help her."

Another handle, @Pakistan untold, posted the same video with the claim: "Bangladeshi Hindu woman r@ped, tortured, and mocked in the Islamic Republic of Bangladesh."

The claim stated that the incident occurred in Araihazar, Narayanganj. Using this clue, Rumor Scanner team searched and discovered the same 51-second clip on a Facebook page named Araihazar Times. The video had a Bangla caption, which Facebook translated as: "Woman robber narrested by the public while robbing in Araihazar. In the Kahindi area of Araihazar, residents caught two robbers. One was beaten to death by a mob, and the police arrested the female robber and took her to the police station."

Further investigation led the team to a report by Somoy News on the incident, which included a screengrab of the video as its feature image. According to the report, "a robber named Billal (45) was killed in a mob beating while preparing for a robbery in Araihazar, Narayanganj.

A female accomplice, identified as Lovely, was injured and arrested. The incident occurred on Thursday night (December 26) in Kahindi village of Haijadi Union under the upazila.

Police stated that a group of seven to eight robbers were preparing to rob a vehicle on Ilumdi road in Kahindi village when villagers became aware of their intentions and chased them.

While most of the robbers managed to escape, Billal and Lovely were caught by the mob. Billal succumbed to a severe beating on the spot, while Lovely jumped into a pond to save herself. Police arrived at the scene, recovered Billal's body, and rescued the injured Lovely."

A report by The Daily Star on the incident stated: "An alleged robber was beaten to death by villagers in Narayanganj's Araihazar upazila last night. A woman who was also beaten was injured and admitted to Araihazar Upazila Health Complex under police custody."

The deceased, Md Billal alias Billal Dakat, 45, of Araihazar's Highjadi union, was accused in nine criminal cases, including murder and robbery, according to Enayet Hossain, the officer-in-charge (OC) of Araihazar Police Station.

The woman told The Daily Star that she is a prostitute by profession and was with a client in the same area when villagers began shouting. She claimed she got scared and tried to run away. However, the OC stated, "The woman is a member of a robbers' gang. She used to help the gang members stop vehicles on the road to loot valuables."

According to the OC, the gang specializes in robbing vehicles on the road, and female members assist in stopping the vehicles during the robberies. "This woman is also a member of the gang," he said. The OC further added, "This woman is multifaceted. Once, villagers even expelled her from the village on charges of drug and immoral activities."

A local witness said that the woman jumped into a pond to save her life, but the villagers picked her up from there and beat her." Later, Rumor Scanner team spoke with Enayet Hossain, the officer-in-charge (OC) of Araihazar Police Station, who refuted the false claim and confirmed that the woman is Muslim and her name is Lovely Akter. We also spoke with Mehedi Islam, Senior Assistant Superintendent of Police for Narayanganj (C-Circle), who also confirmed that the woman is Muslim. He told Rumor Scanner, "The woman is not Hindu; she is Muslim. The rape claim is untrue and totally propaganda."

To sum up, a woman, allegedly linked to a group of robbers, was chased by villagers while the robbers were preparing to rob a vehicle. One of the robbers was beaten to death by the locals, and the woman, named Lovely Akter, jumped into a pond to escape, in fear.

A video showing her emerging from the pond was posted on Facebook, initially with captions describing her as a detained robber. However, the video is later shared on X (formerly Twitter) by several accounts, falsely claiming that the woman is Hindu and has been raped by Muslims.