Footage of crowds at a candlelight vigil in Bangladesh has surfaced in social media posts falsely claiming it showed protests in India seeking justice after the rape and murder of a doctor. The photographer who shot the video told AFP it showed a gathering in Bangladesh’s capital Dhaka to commemorate protesters killed in clashes that led to the ouster of former prime minister Sheikh Hasina.
“This protest last night has created history. The people of entire Kolkata took to the streets,” read a Facebook post that shared the video on September 5, 2024.
“It is impossible to stop this movement until Tilottama gets justice.”
‘Tilottama’ is a name given to a murdered Indian doctor on social media after a court requested local outlets not to reveal her identity.
The discovery of the 31-year-old doctor’s bloodied body at a state-run hospital in the eastern city of Kolkata on August 9 triggered nationwide protests and repeated strikes by medics demanding safer conditions for women
The one-minute video showed snippets from a drone camera footage of a massive candlelight vigil.
The video, which was also shared on X, surfaced as thousands of people joined a candlelight march in Kolkata on September 5 demanding justice for the murdered doctor (archived link).
Medics have vowed to continue their protests and rejected an invitation for talks from state Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on September 10.
Sexual violence against women is a widespread problem in India — an average of nearly 90 rapes a day were reported in 2022 in the country of 1.4 billion people.
Bangladesh drone footage
A reverse image search on Google found a video showing the same scene posted on X on August 9 — weeks before the Kolkata march.
The X post said it showed a vigil in the Uttara neighbourhood of Bangladesh’s capital Dhaka (archived link).
Further keyword search on Google found the original video shared on Instagram and Facebook by Bangladesh-based drone photographer Tamzid Islam Zihan (archived here and here).
He told AFP he filmed the video at the August 9 vigil to commemorate protesters killed in the student-led uprising that toppled Hasina.
Below are screenshot comparisons of the video shared in false posts (left) and the original video uploaded on Instagram (right):
Bangladesh’s NTV News and Business Standard publish similar images of the vigil (archived here and here).
