Recently, an image of a young woman has been widely circulated on social media, accompanied by the following claim:
“This Hindu girl was abducted and raped while returning from Saraswati Puja, and later left near the Dhaka Airport area. According to the information from her national identity card found with her, her home is in the Usmanpur Union of Kuliarchar Upazila in Kishoreganj district. The girl’s name is ‘Ankita Majumdar Trisha’.”
Posts promoting this claim on Facebook can be seen here (Archived), here (Archived), here (Archived), here (Archived), and here (Archived).
Posts promoting this claim on X (formerly Twitter) can be seen here (Archived), and here (Archived).
Fact-Check
An investigation by the Rumor Scanner Team revealed that the viral image is not associated with any incident of rape or abandonment. Instead, the young woman died on January 19 after being hit by a train at the Kawla Rail Gate in the capital. Her name was Ankita Majumdar Trisha.
During the initial phase of the investigation, a keyword search led to a Facebook post by Noyon Chatterjee on January 19, which stated:
“An hour ago, a sister passed away after being hit by a train while crossing the railway tracks near the Kawla Rail Gate adjacent to the airport. Her home is in Usmanpur Union, Kuliarchar. According to the name on her voter ID card, she is Ankita Majumdar Trisha. If anyone knows her, please contact the spot immediately.”
The post can be seen here, and the image in the post matches the widely circulated one.
Additionally, similar Facebook posts with the same information and image were found on the same day, including this post and this post.
Further investigation led to a report published in Bangla Tribune on January 19, titled ‘Two Women Die After Being Run Over by Trains in the Capital‘.
According to the report, Md. Bazlur Rashid, Sub-Inspector (SI) of the Airport Outpost of Dhaka Railway Police Station, stated that Ankita Majumdar died on the morning of January 19 (Sunday) after being struck by the Sonar Bangla Express at Kawla Rail Gate. She worked at a private company. The report further states that Ankita converted from Hinduism to Islam six years ago and married Noyon Islam. Due to work, her husband frequently stays in different locations. Ankita was the daughter of Md. Ujjal Majumdar from Usmanpur village in Kuliarchar, Kishoreganj. Her husband is Noyon Islam. She lived in a rented house on Road 18, Sector 13, Uttara.
A report published on Prothom Alo also confirms the same information about the young woman’s death. The report can be read here.
However, no mainstream media reports contain any evidence or mention of the woman being raped.
Conclusion
Verified reports confirm that Ankita Majumdar Trisha tragically died in a train accident at Kawla Rail Gate in Dhaka. There is no evidence of abduction, rape, or abandonment. The widely circulated claim is false.
Sources
- Noyon Chatterjee – Facebook Post
- Prothom Alo – Two Women Die After Being Run Over by Trains in Dhaka
- Bangla Tribune – Two Women Die After Being Run Over by Trains in the Capital
- Rumor Scanner’s Own Analysis
