Scripted video shared as 'Hindu woman denied bus entry in Bangladesh during Ramadan'

What is the claim?

A video purportedly showing a female passenger engaged in a verbal altercation with a bus conductor has widely circulated on social media. Those sharing the video claim it originates from Bangladesh, alleging it depicts a Hindu woman denied boarding a bus for not wearing a burqa during Ramadan, a sacred month observed by Muslims through fasting, prayer, and reflection.

Sharing the video on X, a user wrote, “In Bangladesh during Ramadan, a Muslim bus conductor did not allow a Hindu woman to board the bus and forcefully threw her out of the bus because she was a Hindu and not wearing a burqa.” An archived version of the post can be seen here. 

The same video was also shared on Facebook in Assamese (archived here), with the caption, “In Bangladesh, Hindu women who do not wear burqa are not allowed to board buses during the month of Ramadan.” (Translated from Assamese)

Screenshots of social media posts sharing the scripted video. (Source: X/Facebook/Modified by Logically Facts) 

However, we have found that the viral clip was taken from a scripted video and does not depict an actual incident.

What did we find?

A reverse image search on one of the keyframes of the video led us to a more extended version of the same video on a Facebook page from Bangladesh, ‘Carton Show.’ The profile picture of the account says ‘Valo 24.’

The caption of the over six-minute-long video (archived here), posted on March 14, 2024, reads, “During the Ramadan month, what is this unveiled woman doing with a bus helper (sic.)” In the original video, the viral clip appears between the 2:05 and 2:13 mark and then between the timestamp 2:40 to 2:55.

The Facebook page, created on March 16, 2023, is described as a ‘video creator’ and regularly uploads similar scripted videos on the portal. We combed through the Facebook page’s contents and noticed that most videos feature the same two individuals seen in the viral video.

The female passenger and the bus conductor seen in the viral video also appear in several other scripted videos posted on the Facebook page. (Source: Facebook/Carton Show/Screenshots)

We also found a YouTube channel, ‘Valo 24,’ that showcases the same video creators. The 'About' section of the channel clarifies that all of its content is “educational short films of our ongoing life happenings,” adding that they are all fictional. “So if our story matches someone's life. Then we apologize to them. All our stories are created to entertain you (sic),” a disclaimer on the channel page reads.

The verdict

The viral video is scripted and does not depict an actual incident. Moreover, the actors performing the roles of the female passenger and the bus conductor can be seen playing different roles in other videos shared by the YouTube channel hosting the viral clip. Therefore, we have marked this claim as false.