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| - Recently, a video of an attack on a house has been circulating on social media with the claim, “A Hindu family was attacked in Sunamganj, Bangladesh by a mob of Jihadis. Village wanted them to become muslim. When they refused, he accused them of theft and a mob proceeded to attack their house with stones and bamboo stick.”
See the posts circulated on Instagram with this claim here (archive) and here (archive).
See the post circulated on X with this claim here (archive).
See the post circulated on Facebook with this claim here (archive).
See the post circulated on LinkedIn with this claim here (archive).
Fact-check
An investigation by the Rumor Scanner team reveals that the circulated video does not depict an attack on a Hindu family for refusing to convert to Islam. In reality, the video shows a mob attack on the houses of Ali Hossain and Tarek Miah in Sunamganj on March 25 over allegations of theft. The woman seen in the video is not Hindu; she is Muslim.
An inquiry into the discussed video led to a video post published on March 25 on the Facebook page of a news outlet named ‘News10’ with the caption “House vandalized and looted in Sunamganj over theft allegations”. The scenes in this video match those circulated with the discussed claim.
Furthermore, an investigation found a report titled “House vandalized over cow theft allegations in Sunamganj” published on the website of the online news portal ‘Banglanews24’ on March 25. A scene from the collage image attached to the report also perfectly matches the scene circulated with the discussed claim.
Regarding this incident, the ‘Banglanews24’ report states, “Villagers vandalized a man’s house over allegations of cow theft in Chhatak upazila of Sunamganj district. The incident took place on Wednesday (March 25) afternoon at the house of Ali Hossain, son of Abdul Khalik of Dakshin Kurshi village in Dolarbazar union of the upazila. Locals alleged that 7-8 people, including Ali Hossain, have been regularly stealing, making life miserable for the local people. This is tarnishing the image of the area… At around 12 noon on March 25, they attacked Ali Hossain’s house. At that time, Ali Hossain’s daughter, the wife of notorious cow thief Tarek, rushed towards the villagers with a machete in hand to protect her paternal home. She had a baby in her arms. At one stage, the villagers vandalized and looted the house.”
Following this lead, a relevant keyword search led to a report published on March 25 on the website of the Sunamganj-based local news outlet ‘Sunamganjer Khobor’, which included the discussed scene. This report provided similar information regarding the theft. The report states, “Recently, a man was caught red-handed with a cow at the house of Md. Dulon Miah in Uttar Kurshi village of Dolarbazar union. Following this, an angry mob attacked the houses of accused Tarek Miah, son of Abdul Haque, and Ali Hossain, son of Abdul Khalik, on Wednesday (March 25) afternoon. During the attack, the residential houses and furniture were vandalized. In the viral video, Tarek Miah’s wife is seen trying to protect the house with her children. She and her child were injured when the agitated mob threw bricks and stones. Additionally, various household items were vandalized, and some goods were taken away.”
Additionally, a report regarding this matter was also published on the website of the national daily Prothom Alo on March 25. Detailing the background of the attack, the report states, “..On Tuesday (March 24) night, Saiful Islam (25) of the neighboring Moinpur village was detained while stealing a cow from the house of Dolon Miah in Uttar Kurshi village. Three others who were with him fled at that time. Today (March 25) morning, the locals held a meeting at Mohammadganj market regarding this. At the meeting, the detained Saiful confessed that Abu Hanifa of Moinpur village, and Ali Hossain and Tarek Miah of Dakshin Kurshi were with him. Based on everyone’s consensus at the meeting, the agitated crowd went to the houses of Ali Hossain and Tarek Miah in Dakshin Kurshi and carried out an attack and massive vandalism. Two houses were completely demolished. Local inquiries revealed that the woman trying to protect the house from the attack while holding a baby is Tarek Miah’s wife..”
Therefore, analyzing the above evidence confirms that there was no issue of pressuring any Hindu individual to convert to Islam as a motive for the attack. The incident occurred strictly as a consequence of theft-related allegations. Moreover, neither the victimized family nor the woman in the video are Hindu; they are Muslim.
In conclusion, footage of an attack on a Muslim family over theft allegations in Sunamganj has been circulated with the communal claim that it depicts an attack on a Hindu family for refusing to convert to Islam; this claim is entirely false.
Sources
News10 – Facebook Post
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Banglanews24 – House vandalized over cow theft allegations in Sunamganj
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Sunamganjer Khobor – Tension in Chhatak over theft allegations, houses vandalized
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Prothom Alo – Locals attack and vandalize houses of 2 ‘thieves’ following a thief eradication committee meeting
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Rumor Scanner’s analysis
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