Dhaka: Fact-checking organization Rumor Scanner has uncovered the misrepresentation of an image and video footage of a student’s body as that of a recently deceased Jubo League activist.
According to Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha, a report on their website highlighted that a video of a young man hanging from a tree has been widely circulated online, falsely claiming it to be the body of a Jubo League activist who was allegedly murdered.
Rumor Scanner’s investigation revealed that the image and video actually depict the body of an honors student, Shafin Mia, found hanging during the previous government’s tenure on November 12, 2023. The initial discovery of the photo occurred on a Facebook group named ‘Mithapukur, Rangpur Update Khabor,’ where it was posted with a caption stating that police had recovered the body of Shafin in the Ruposhi Damua area of Khoragach Union, Mithapukur Upazila.
The investigation further compared the video to the Facebook post, noting the similarities in the young man’s clothing and surroundings. The caption identified the deceased as Shafin Mia, an honors student from Mithapukur upazila, Rangpur, who was allegedly killed and hung from a mango tree by a pond.
Additional evidence from a different angle was found on another Facebook page, Online A Rangpur.24, which also reported the recovery of the bodies of two individuals, including Shafin, on the same day. The information was corroborated by a report from mainstream media outlet Jugantor, titled ‘Allegations of student being killed and then hung in Mithapukur,’ dated November 13, 2023.
The Jugantor report confirmed that Shafin Mia, son of Sekandar Ali from Ruposhi Bekipara village, was allegedly murdered and his body recovered by police. Furthermore, a report on the website of private television channel Somoy TV titled “Body of Rangpur Carmichael College student hanging from a tree” identified Shafin as a political science student at Carmichael College, Rangpur.
The investigation concludes that the circulated narrative about the Jubo League worker’s murder is unfounded, as the incident involving Shafin Mia is not a recent event. The propagation of the student’s 2023 image as a recent Jubo League activist’s murder is entirely baseless.