Footage of protester hit with tear gas falsely linked to religious tension in Bangladesh

"In Bangladesh, acid is being thrown on Hindu women in broad daylight for coming out without wearing a burqa," reads a Bengali-language Facebook post shared on February 18, 2025. 

It includes a video that shows a woman trying to cover her face with her backpack while two other men beside her shout and ask for water to help her.

A burqa is a one-piece overgarment that covers the entire head and body, with a mesh panel to see through.

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Screenshot of the false post taken on April 28, 2025

Acid attacks on women have dropped dramatically in Bangladesh after it enacted tough new laws that threatened the death penalty for anyone convicted of the crime (archived link). 

According to the Acid Survivors Foundation, there were 494 reported attacks in 2002 when the new measures came into force, but the number dropped to eight in 2019.

The false clip surfaced as minority communities faced a string of violence since a student-led uprising toppled long-time autocratic leader Sheikh Hasina in August 2024 (archived link). 

In the chaotic days following her ouster, Hindus -- seen by some as having backed Hasina -- as well as Muslim Sufi shrines have been targeted by Islamist hardliners. 

It was shared alongside similar claims elsewhere on Facebook. 

But a reverse image search with keyframes of the footage led to a longer version of the clip that local online news portal Dhaka Post published on its Facebook page on February 13 (archived link).

It shows a tear gas canister exploding in front of a group of protesters before riot police move in to disperse them.

"Students clash with police in front of the Secretariat," says the video's caption.

The clip in the false post can be seen from the 2:39 mark of the video report. 

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Screenshot comparison of the footage shared in the false post (left) and the video published by Dhaka Post

Another outlet Prothom Alo also published footage showing the same scene (archived link). 

The Dhaka Tribune reported that police dispersed protests staged by students from Narsingdi Textile Engineering College against the institution's closure (archived link). 

Ashikuzzaman Limon, the man seen on the left of the Dhaka Post clip and a second-year student at the college, told AFP on April 27 that no burqa or acid was involved in the incident.

"The way the footage is being shared is not right," Limon told AFP on April 27, 2025. "She was hit with tear gas hurled by police while we were protesting in front of the secretariat." 

Bangladesh fact-checking organisation Rumor Scanner also published a report dismissing the claim as false. 

AFP has debunked a wave of misinformation sparked by religious tensions in Bangladesh.