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This Video Of a Child Being Kidnapped By Niqab Clad Person Is Scripted And Is From Egypt
India, 6 July 2022 11:56 AM GMT
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We found that the person seen in Niqab is a man dressed as a woman. As per media reports and statements by The Ministry of Interior (Egpyt), the entire video is scripted and those who filmed the video have been arrested.
A video showing a child being seemingly kidnapped has gone viral across social media. The video is being circulated with claims that burqa-clad persons are abducting children.
The Logical Indian Fact Check Team has examined similar claims in the past and debunked misinformation surrounding Islamic clothing. We have examined social media posts which claimed that a burqa-clad person was apprehended by police officials after they threw stones at the police. We found the claim to be misleading as can be seen in our report here.
Claim:
The 30 seconds viral video shows a person clad in a burqa approaching a child that is sitting idly. The burqa-clad person can be seen patting the child after which the child faints. A rickshaw drives up to the two and the person driving the rickshaw steps out. The rickshaw driver and the burqa-clad person can be seen abducting the seemingly unconscious child.
The translated caption reads, "Warn and save your children from such gangs…"
The claim is viral on Facebook with the same caption. The viral posts claim that gangs of persons clad in niqab are abducting children in India by pricking them with a substance that makes them faint.
The Logical Indian received several messages on our WhatsApp fact check no. +91-6364000343 requesting to fact check the claim.
Screengrabs of requests received on the TLI WhatsApp fact check number
Fact Check:
The Logical Indian fact check team verified the claim and found it to be false. The viral video is from Egypt and scripted.
We used InVid's Keyframe Analysis tool to break down the video into keyframes. We conducted a reverse image search on the video's keyframes which led us to this result on Google.
In this report, published on Masrawy, an Arabic Egyptian news web portal, details about the incident are provided. The thumbnail of the news report is the same as the screengrab from the viral video. In the Masrawy report published on 28 June 2022, we found that the incident actually took place in Sohag Governorate, located in the southern part of Egypt.
We also found that the video was fabricated and the persons shown in the video are actors. We also came across several reports from Egyptian news websites such as Anbaaden and AlmashadAlan published on 30th June 2022.
The reports detailed how the interior ministry of Egypt had announced the arrest of four people residing in Sohag Governorate in Upper Egypt in the case of the scripted video.
In our keyframe search, we also found this video uploaded on Facebook which is a higher resolution version of the viral video. In the video uploaded on June 24, 2022, we are able to observe the number plates of the red car seen in the video.
We found images of Egyptian number plates and the one seen on the car in the viral video matches up with these examples.
In our Fact Check, we came across this report published on NABD.com on Wednesday, 29 June 2022. The report states that the fake video was filmed in a street in the city of Girga city in Sohag Governorate. The accused had filmed the fabricated video and posted it on social media with the aim of achieving a financial return after the video had gone viral.
The article contains a video with the confession of the accused in the case. The report notes that the accused admitted that he wore the niqab to create the misleading impression that he was a woman. The accused convinced a child to act while another acted as the "tuk-tuk" driver. Meanwhile, a fourth person filmed the video.
In our Fact Check, we came across this tweet by the Ministry of Interior (Egypt). In the tweet, the Ministry states, that the viral video of the veiled woman kidnapping a child inside a "tuk-tuk" vehicle after he was drugged is a fake video clip.
This tweet led us to this post on Facebook posted by the Ministry of Interior (Egypt). The translated title of the post uploaded on June 29, 2022, reads, "Exposing the circumstances of the circulation of a forged video clip of a veiled woman kidnapping a child after drugging him with a pin in his shoulder with an assistant".
The caption reads, "On examination, it was found that the aforementioned video was fabricated. We have identified and arrested those responsible for the video, and it was found that they were four people, residing in Girga city of Sohag Governorate".
The caption states that one of the accused wore the niqab to deceive viewers of the video clip. "The fabricated video was spread on social networking sites with the aim of achieving a financial return by increasing the viewership rate. The Ministry of Interior stresses that all legal measures are taken against the promoters of lies and rumours."
Conclusion:
In our Fact Check, we found that the person seen in Niqab is a man dressed as a woman. As per media reports and statements by The Ministry of Interior (Egypt), the entire video is scripted and those who filmed the video have been arrested.
The four people involved in the filming of the video, are residents of Girga city of Sohag Governorate in the southern part of Egypt. As per the Ministry of Interior (Egypt), the purpose of making the video was for financial gain through the viral video. Thus, we conclude that the viral video is misleading.
If you have any news that you believe needs to be fact-checked, please email us at factcheck@thelogicalindian.com or WhatsApp at 6364000343.
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