Video of female tourist surrounded by locals on Bangladesh beach shared as incident from India

On March 1, 2024, an incident occurred in Dumka, Jharkhand, where a 28-year-old Spanish travel blogger was reportedly gang-raped by a group of seven men. The victim shared her traumatic experience on Instagram, revealing that she was assaulted by 7-8 men on March 1. Following the incident, authorities have arrested all eight suspects. This event has prompted the emergence of various videos on social media, with tourists purportedly sharing their own experiences in India.

What's the claim?

Amid these developments, a video has gone viral that allegedly shows a female tourist on an Indian beach surrounded by local onlookers. In the eight-second clip, the woman is heard saying, "I'm at the beach and want to show you guys the beautiful view." She then switches the camera to the rearview, revealing a large crowd of men observing her. The short clip includes overlaid text that reads "Throwback to my visit to India" and "Can someone please explain this?"

This video was shared on the X platform, accompanied by the caption, "A girl went to a beach during her vacation in India, and this is what she saw," attracting approximately 204.3 thousand views. An archived version of the post can be accessed here.

Screenshot of an X post. (Source: X/Screenshot/ Modified by Logically Facts)

Additionally, the same footage was circulated on YouTube with a caption highlighting the experience of a "white girl" at an Indian beach, accompanied by laughing emojis. Archived versions of the video posts can be accessed here and here.

Screenshots of YouTube videos. (Source:YouTube/Screenshot/ Modified by Logically Facts)

However, upon further investigation, it is clear that the video was actually filmed in Bangladesh in 2019 and has no connection to India.

What are the facts?

A reverse image search of keyframes from the video revealed that AsoOmii Jay, a Canada-based stylist and entrepreneur, originally posted the video on Facebook on March 11, 2019, stating it was captured in Bangladesh. Jay humorously referred to herself as a "zoo animal" in the caption, recounting her experience with locals requesting selfies, and joked about now having numerous boyfriends in Bangladesh. She expressed her eagerness to return and explore Bangladesh more thoroughly, praising the locals' hospitality.

Source: Facebook/AsoOmii Jay 

Jay also uploaded the video to her Instagram, with a similar caption, also mentioning a digital creator, 'Neezo (ⵏⵉⵣⴰⵔ) ⵣ 🇱🇾 🏴 🇵🇸,' who had a comparable experience. Notably, the original uploads on Facebook and Instagram did not feature the overlaid texts found in the viral versions.

Source: Instagram/asoomiijay

Visual cues

Jay posted another similar video, lasting 7 minutes and 1 second, on Facebook from the same location in Bangladesh, clearly stating that it was captured at a beach in Cox Bazar on March 1, 2019.

Source: Facebook/AsoOmii Jay 

In this video, Jay wanders along the beach, presenting a variety of scenes and visuals. Upon reviewing the footage, we noted a red and white structure in the background at the 1:02 mark.

Screenshot of the video posted by AsoOmii Jay on Facebook highlighting the structure in red and white color. (Source: Facebook/Screenshot/Modified by Logically Facts)

We managed to geolocate the structure on Google Maps and confirmed it as the Sea Princess Hotel, located in Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh, facing the Sughandha beach.

Comparison of the structure highlighted in the Facebook video and an image of the Sea Princess Hotel located in Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh, from Google Maps. (Source: Facebook/Google Maps/Screenshot/ Modified by Logically Facts)

Logically Facts has contacted Jay, and this fact check will be updated if and when we receive a response.

The verdict

The viral video, which shows a crowd watching a girl on the beach, is neither recent nor from India; it originates from Bangladesh. Consequently, we have marked the claim as false.