Does This Photo Show a Hindu Woman Killed, Wrapped in Plastic in Bangladesh? No!

The communal angle given to the incident of a Muslim woman being kidnapped and tortured is false.

A photo of a woman has gone viral with the false claim that it shows a Hindu woman who was sexually assaulted, killed, and wrapped in plastic in Bangladesh.

(Source: X/Altered by The Quint)

A photo showing a woman, wrapped in plastic and left in a grassy area has gone viral on social media.

The claim: The photo is being shared to claim that it shows a Hindu woman who was sexually assaulted, killed, and wrapped in plastic before being abandoned in Bangladesh's Barisal.

• Those sharing the image have shared it to raise alarm about the condition of Hindus in Bangladesh.

• This claim was also published in a report by TV9 Bangla and was also shared by the official Facebook page of the Bangladesh Awami League.

The report also shared the viral claim.

(Source: TV9 Bangla/Screenshot)

An archived version of this post can be seen here.

(Source: Facebook/Screenshot)

(Archived versions of more posts sharing this claim can be seen here, here, here, and here.)

Is it true?: The claim is misleading as the woman was neither killed, nor is Hindu.

• She was identified as Maria Akhtar, a Muslim woman, who was reportedly tortured by the relatives of her husband's former wife.

How do we know?: We ran a reverse image search on the photo, which led us to a report by Bangladeshi news organisation Shomoyer Alo.

• It carried a blurred version of the viral image, mentioning that traders had found an "acid-burned woman wrapped in polythene" along the Barisal-Bhola highway.

This is a translated version of the report.

(Source: Shomoyer Alo/Screenshot)

• The report added that the woman was rescued by the police and taken to the Sher-e-Bangla Medical College Hospital, where she was undergoing treatment.

• More reports about the incident can be seen here and here.

• Another report by Ajker Patrika identified the woman as 23-year-old Maria Begum, noting that she had been tortured and left to die by the relatives of her husband's former wife, who reportedly wanted to force her to terminate her pregnancy.

A translated version of the report mentioned that the woman was identified as one Maria Begum.

(Source: Ajker Patrika/Screenshot)

• Speaking to the publication, Maria alleged that her husband's ex-wife's brothers had kidnapped her when she was on her way home, "tortured her, tied her hands and feet, and left her wrapped in polythene."

• A doctor at the hospital said that Maria was suffering from burns on various parts of her body, the report added.

Communal angle refuted: While looking for information about this came, we came across a post by the official Facebook account of Bangladesh Chief Advisor's Press Wing Facts.

• The post categorically stated that the woman is a "23-year-old pregnant Muslim named Maria Akhtar (also referred to as Maria Begum)," corroborating the reason for the incident.

The woman belongs to the Muslim community.

(Source: Facebook/Screenshot)

We also came across an X post by Bangladeshi fact-checker Shohanur Rahman, who also said that the woman belongs to the Muslim community.

Conclusion: An incident of a Muslim woman being kidnapped and tortured in Bangladesh has gone viral with a false claim that it shows a Hindu woman who was sexually assaulted and killed.

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