India or Nepal? Viral Assault Video Actually Traces Back to Bangladesh

India or Nepal? Neither. A viral assault video being used to fuel communal narratives in both countries actually originated in Bangladesh. The case highlights a growing pattern of old and unrelated footage being repackaged online to provoke religious hostility. 

On 3 September, a Turkey-based X account shared a video showing a man tied to a tree being physically assaulted by a group of youth. The viral caption claimed that it depicts violence against Muslims in India. However, we found that the video is not from India. The same footage had previously gone viral with a claim that Muslims in Nepal were under attack. However, our verification confirms that the video is from Comilla, Bangladesh.

What is viral online?

On 3 September, an X user shared the video with a Turkish-language caption alleging that Hindus in India were committing violence against Muslims. The post was shared with the hashtags #India and #IndianMuslimsUnderAttack.

As of 4 September, the post had garnered 3,40,600 views, 9,900 likes and 8,800 reposts.

While most of the users responded stating that the video is not from India but from Bangladesh, a user remarked, “These criminals should be arrested to save this Muslim youth.”

We noted that the same video was earlier shared as Nepal.

On 2 August, X user Mohammad Gandhi (@MohammadAman48) shared the video with a Hindi caption that translates to, “I’m speechless at seeing all this; children are doing these things. What will happen to the children who are doing this work at such a young age? What have their parents taught them that killing a helpless person is right? The post also uses hashtags such as #Nepal, #नेपाल, and #Nepalriots, thereby indicating that the visuals are from Nepal.

As of 4 September, the post had received 1,71,100 views, 1,400 likes and 1,000 reposts.

In an emotional outburst, a user responded, “They are bloody racist h**** pigs. They attack in numbers and beat up a single man or pick on women, children or older people. Their parents must be really proud of birthing scum like them.”

How did we verify?

We analysed the viral video and noticed the watermark @md.soimul, which led us to a longer version of the video that was shared on 15 July 2026.

While the caption doesn’t explicitly state where the incident is from, the ‘About this account’ section indicates that the account is based in Bangladesh.  

We enhanced the blurred Bengali text on the building in the visual and found that it translates to “Dakshin Vinglabari Central Jame Masjid.”

Taking this as a cue, we geolocated the video and identified that the incident occurred outside a mosque in Vinglabari, Comilla, Bangladesh.

Our analysis found that the viral video does not show a Muslim man being tied to a tree and physically assaulted in India. The same footage was earlier circulated with claims linking it to Nepal. However, the watermark on the video led us to a longer version shared in July 2026 by a Bangladesh-based account. We geolocated the visual to a mosque in Vinglabari, Comilla, Bangladesh. Therefore, the viral posts falsely link a video from Bangladesh to incidents in India and Nepal.