Recently, a post went viral on social media with a caption: “Another horrifying incident in Barishal: A married Hindu woman has been found with her hands and feet tied and wrapped in polythene in a jungle near Talukdar Market on Bhola Road. Suspected rape. Hindu lives are under constant attack. When will the world wake up?” — along with a photo.
Some posts shared on X (formerly Twitter) promoting this claim can be seen here (Archive), here (Archive), here (Archive), here (Archive), and here (Archive).
Fact-check
Rumor Scanner’s investigation found that the woman found with her hands and feet tied and wrapped in polythene in Bhola, Barishal is not Hindu. In fact, she is Muslim. Her name is Maria Begum.
During the investigation, a report was found on a news website called Khoborer Kotha, published yesterday (June 29), titled: “A Woman Found in Barishal With Her Hands and Feet Tied and Wrapped in Polythene”. The image in the report matches the one circulating online.
According to the report, on June 29, police rescued a woman alive with burns from acid. Her hands and feet were tied, and she was wrapped in polythene, found beside the Barishal-Bhola highway.
Delwar Hossain, Inspector (Investigation) of Barishal Bandar Police Station, stated that the woman had been taken to the One Stop Crisis Centre (OCC) at Sher-e-Bangla Medical College Hospital. She is currently receiving treatment. Further details will be provided later.
Based on this lead, mainstream media outlets also reported on the incident.
From Ajker Patrika (Archive) and Bangladesh Pratidin (Archive), both published on June 29, it is learned that police rescued a pregnant woman from inside a polythene sack with her hands, feet, eyes, and mouth tied.
She was rescued from the Talukdar Hat area of Charkaua Union in Sadar Upazila.
The rescued housewife’s name is Maria Akter. She is a resident of Sakral village in Uzirpur Upazila of Barishal and the wife of Moshiur Rahman, a businessman from Bhola.
Therefore, by looking at the name of the woman rescued with her hands and feet tied in polythene and her family member’s name, it is confirmed that she is a follower of Islam.
Conclusion
Thus, a Muslim woman rescued in Barishal with her hands and feet tied and wrapped in polythene has been falsely claimed to be Hindu on X. This claim is misleading.
