Video of a protest by a Jagannath University student shared as an attack on Hindu women in Bangladesh

The viral video is a protest by a student of Jagannath University in Bangladesh and not an attack on Hindu women. 

At least 232 people were killed in Bangladesh in the incidents of violence that erupted across the country following the fall of the government led by Sheikh Hasina on 5 August 2024. Amidst this, video showing a girl, with scotch tape on her mouth and her hand tied behind has gone viral on social media with the claim that this is the plight of Hindu women in the crisis-hit Bangladesh.

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We started our investigation by conducting a keyword and reverse image search on Google and the results led us to a Facebook post by JnU Short Stories, dated 26 July, 2024, featuring the same video. “The girl is a regular student of Jagannath University in the academic year 2021-22. This video is the scene of the path play as a protest against Avantika’s suicide a few days ago” the post stated.

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Based on this post, we searched for information about Avantika’s suicide and protest. Meanwhile, a report published by Bengali news website Daily Ittefaq on 17 March has become available. The report states “Students of Jagannath University held a flag march demanding justice in connection with the suicide case of student Fairuz Sadaf Avantika. They protested by lighting candles and performing street plays.

Upon further search, we came across a Channel 24 video published on their official YouTube channel on 18 March, 2024, covering the same protest at Jagannath University. In this video, along with the girl in the viral video, some other young men and women are also seen standing there with tape on their mouths or holding torches and the title states, “Torch march to demand justice for Avantika’s death”

We also discovered a report from Bangladeshi daily The News published on 31 July 2024, identifying the student in the video as ‘Trishna.’ The report also clarified that she was not a leader of the Bangladesh Chhatra League (BCL), the student branch of the Awami League, as previously stated, and quoted her as saying, “This is the scene of a road drama on the day of candle light vigil for Avantika Apu’s death. After this incident, my relatives and acquaintances called me and asked me for details of the incident. They also felt that it was a case of torture.”

Conclusion- Fact crescendo found the claim made along with the viral video to be Misleading. The viral video is a protest by a student of Jagannath University in Bangladesh and not an attack on Hindu women.