A disturbing video showing a dead man hanging from a statue and being brutally beaten went viral on social media claiming it to be a video of a German ISKON priest in Bangladesh. Sharing the video on X, a user wrote, “Unimaginable horror! A German ISKCON pujari, who dedicated his life to feeding thousands, was tied like Chr!st, set ablaze, and brutally attacked with sticks and hammers.
This nightmare is #Bangladesh.
#JaagoHinduJaago #SaveHindus”
However, as we investigated, we came to know that the claim was false. Though the video is from Bangladesh, it doesn’t show the brutal murder of an ISKON priest. Here’s the fact check.
Fact Check
We started our investigation by conducting a keyword search in the Bengali language that led us to a video uploaded on YouTube on 5 August 2024 with a caption in Bengali. According to the caption, Awami League leader Hiran Chairman was killed and hanged by the people in Jhenaidah.
The video was taken from a distance and had a voiceover in Bengali, “The well-known Hiran Chairman has been killed and hanged. Thousands of people have come out to see his body”. At the 0.44 timestamp, the video was zoomed in, and then the upper part of the person in the viral video could be seen in that YouTube video. In addition, a photo of a person was attached to the bottom of the screen of the YouTube video.
Conducting a reverse image search of this image, we found a tweet on 6 August 2024. The tweet contained this image and a video similar to the viral video. According to the caption of the tweet, the man is Awami League member Shahidul Islam Hiran. After Sheikh Hasina was ousted, Shahidul Islam Hiran’s house was burnt down and his body was hung in the city centre. He was 75 years old. The driver of Shahidul Islam Hiran was also killed.
Moving forward, using relevant keywords we found a report published on the website Corporate Songbad on 6 August 2024. A blurred screenshot of the viral video, along with a photo of Shahidul Islam Hiran, was attached to the report.
According to the report, “Shahidul Islam Hiran(75), general secretary of Jhinaidah Sadar Upazila Awami League and chairman of local Porahati Sangha was killed. The mob attacked his house in Stadiumpara and set it on fire. After that, they took his body to Piara Chattar and hanged his body there.
Earlier, when the crowd surrounded Hiran’s house, Shahidul Islam Hiran opened fire with his licensed gun and pistol. About 25 people were injured. The injured were admitted to Jhenaidah Sadar Hospital. Akhtar Hossain, the driver of Hiran’s car, was killed in the afternoon.
Similar reports can be read here, here and here.
The same video went viral a few months back claiming it to be mob lynching of a Hindu man in Bangladesh. Fact Crescendo debunked that claim which can be read here.
This makes it clear that the person in the viral video was Shahidul Islam Hiran, general secretary of Jhenaidah Sadar Upazila Awami League and chairman of the local Porahati Sangha.
Conclusion
From our investigation, we can say that the claim is false. The video does not show the brutal killing of an ISKON Priest in Bangladesh. The person in the viral video was Shahidul Islam Hiran, general secretary of Jhenaidah Sadar Upazila Awami League and chairman of the local Porahati Sangha, whose dead body was hung in Piara Chattar. This incident had no communal aspect.
Title:ISKON Priest In Bangladesh Brutally Killed? No, The Video Shows the Mob Lynching Of Awami League Leader Shahidul Islam Hiran.
Written By: Debanjana baishyaResult: False
