Fact Check: Home robbery video shared as communal violence in Bangladesh

A video going viral allegedly shows Islamists in Bangladesh attacking a Hindu woman. The video, which appears to be CCTV footage from inside a house, shows a woman opening the door, after which two men enter — one wearing a skull cap — and attack her. The woman could be heard screaming for her life.India Today Fact Check has found that the woman in the video is not Hindu. She’s Muslim.OUR PROBEA reverse search of frames from the viral video led us to an extended version of the clip posted by Bangladeshi outlet Independent News on August 19. This version captured the attackers' movements on other surveillance cameras installed in the residential building. According to the caption, the incident took place in Feni, Bangladesh. We then found Bangladeshi news reports by Jugantor, the Dhaka Tribune, and DBC News from August 20, according to which the incident occurred around 8:30 am on August 19 at Rehan Mansion in the Mahipal area of Feni. The victim was identified as Shahana Akter, who lived on the second floor of the building with her Saudi Arabia-based husband, Md Nuruzzaman, and their teenage son. This confirmed that the victim and her family were not Hindus.According to the reports, Shahana opened the door after hearing the doorbell, following which two men allegedly forced their way into the house. They held her hostage at knifepoint, restrained her, and covered her face before searching the premises and fleeing with cash and jewellery. Jugantor reported that approximately Tk 10.60 lakh in cash and 15 bhori of gold jewellery were stolen. None of these reports indicated that the attackers were Islamists or that the robbery was religiously motivated. Local police have said the matter is under investigation, but no arrests had been made at the time of publishing this story.It is, therefore, clear that while the video is from Bangladesh, the communal claim is false.- EndsPublished By: Pathikrit SanyalPublished On: Aug 25, 2026 19:49 IST