India TV Fact Check: A video of a woman being beaten and harassed by some people has gained traction on social media with the claim that she is a Bangladeshi Hindu woman named Jyotika Basu Chatterjee. However, a fact-check by India TV's team revealed that this claim is fake.
Bangladesh has been in a state of crisis since August 5, following the ousting of former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina after a month-long nationwide student protest that led to the deaths of over 300. Since then, numerous reports have emerged about attacks on minority Hindus across the country. Amidst this turmoil, a particular video has gone viral, allegedly showing an attack on a Hindu woman named Jyotika Basu.
What is the claim?
An X user named MrNationalistJJ shared the video on August 9 with the caption, “#AHorrorStory This is Jyotika Basu-Chatterjee from Bangladesh. A woman who ran a humanitarian organization. She worked tirelessly on education and health for Muslims with Hindu funds. She helped all the women nearby, be it small or big; whenever anyone needed help….”
"Jyotika's number was on everyone's lips. But as soon as the riots started, Islamic men and women forgot everything. Madam Jyotika got a sit-up meeting. After that, twenty people stripped her naked and raped her. Then they burned her alive by raising religious slogans. Men, women, and children were all laughing. Jyotika's brother made a video asking for help from the Indian government and told the story of sister, Jyotika. Later, he was also burned alive! If this story doesn't wake you up then I don't know what else could!" he added.
India TV did investigation
This video was going viral very fast on social media, so we decided to investigate this claim. We began by searching various websites and social media platforms using Google Open Search. We found a tweet from a Bangladeshi fact-checker Shohanur Rahman (@Sohan_RSB) had quote-tweeted @MrNationalistJJ’s tweet and wrote, "She is Sagarika Akhter, a Muslim and a female Chhatra League leader from Eden Women's College. This video and incident is from July 17. She is not Jyotika Basu, as mentioned in your fabricated story. She was punished for standing against students and torturing them using political power. RW propaganda handles are continuing to spread anti-Bangladesh communal propaganda."
What was the conclusion?
Upon investigation, it was found that the viral video in question actually features Sagarika Akhtar, a leader of the Chhatra League, the student wing of former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's Awami League. This discovery confirms that the claim circulating with the video, suggesting that a Hindu woman named Jyotika Basu was beaten, is completely false. The video has been misrepresented, and the allegations being made are entirely baseless.
Also Read: Fact Check: Old video of long queue at India-Bangladesh border in Assam shared as recent
