Does This Video Show Man Targeting a Child Selling Balloons in India? No!

We found that the video is staged and was filmed in Bangladesh.

Fact-Check | The video was recorded in Bangladesh and not India. 

(Photo: Altered by The Quint)

A video which shows a man bursting several balloons being carried by a child is going viral on social media platforms as a recent incident that occurred in India.

What did the viral post say?: Those sharing the clip have shared it with a caption which, when translated to English, loosely said, "Rather than gripping and strengthening weary hands, we should not display our strength over the helpless. #NewIndia."

An archive of the post can be found here.

(Source: X (formerly Twitter)/Screenshot)

The above post had garnered over two lakh views on the platform. More archives of similar claims could be viewed here, here, and here.

What are the facts?: The video was actually filmed in Bangladesh and has no connection to India.

• In the longer version of the viral clip, the man was seen asking the child to go and play and offered him money (in Bangladesh's currency).

• The creator told Team WebQoof that the video was indeed shot in Bangladesh and confirmed that it was staged.

What led us to the truth?: Using the help of Google Lens, we conducted a reverse image search on the keyframes of the viral video and found the same visuals shared on a Facebook handle named 'The Dhaka-Raju Bhai'.

• It was posted on 25 January and its caption when translated to English loosely said, "The boy is very hardworking. #foryou #akijgroup #money #Agargaon #business #DhakaBangladesh."

• The caption pointed towards the fact that the video was shot in Bangladesh.

Finding the longer version: On going through the same Facebook handle, we came across a longer version of the viral clip uploaded on 12 January.

• Its caption loosely translated to, "Closed business for one day but why..?? #foryou #akijgroup #টাকা #আগারগাঁও #ব্যবসা #DhakaBangladesh."

• The video showed the full interaction between the man and child. The man first asked the latter about his age. The man then tells the child that it is his age to play around and study and not sell balloons.

• Towards the end of the video, the man then offers the child 1000 Taka.

What did the creator say?: Team WebQoof reached out to the creator, who said, "The video was shot in Dhaka and it was completely staged. The child knew that we were going to do this and I also gave him some money after the video was shot. He was not able to sell many balloons so I made the video as I wanted him to go and play.”

Conclusion: It is clear that the video was recorded in Bangladesh and not India.

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