Scene from Indian music video misrepresented as public execution in Nepal
- Published on April 9, 2026 at 11:40
- 2 min read
- By Sachin BAGHEL, AFP India
Punishment for those convicted of rape remains a debated topic in India -- with many questioning the exception granted to marital rape in the country's revamped penal code -- but footage circulating online that purportedly shows three men being hanged in neighbouring Nepal for raping a girl does not show a real execution. The scene was actually captured in Punjab in northern India at the filming of a music video.
"Jihadis in Nepal raped a Nepali Hindu girl. Nepali Hindus hanged them in the street," reads in part a Hindi-language X post shared on March 16, 2026.
The term "jihad" is frequently translated as holy war but "jihadi" is frequently used by hardliners in Hindu-majority India as a pejorative term for Muslims.
"Only when something similar happens in India, Hindu women will be safe from these jihadis."
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India adopted a new penal code called Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) in July 2024 to replace its colonial-era equivalent, but the new law retained an exception that excludes sexual acts between a man and his wife from the definition of rape unless she is under 18.
The Indian government said that marital rape was adequately addressed in existing laws, including a 2005 law protecting women from domestic violence (archived link).
But Shashi Tharoor, a lawmaker from India's opposition Congress party, called the exception a "colonial relic" and introduced a bill to criminalise it (archived here and here).
The BNS also carries the death penalty for certain rape-related offences. While India imposes the death penalty by hanging, it is rarely carried out in practice. The last executions in India were in March 2020, when four men convicted of the 2012 gang rape and murder of a woman on a Delhi bus were hanged, in a case that sparked huge nationwide protests (archived link).
The video circulated with the same claim elsewhere on X and Facebook, but it in fact shows a scene from a music video filmed in India.
A Google reverse image search using keyframes from the video shows the arch seen in the false video matches Google Maps Street View imagery of Qila Mubarak, a fort in the Punjab province (archived link).
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Further keyword searches found a music video titled "Defender" showing the same three men from a different angle (archived link).
Its description says the video features a song by Indian singer Mankirt Aulakh, and that the scene was filmed at Qila Mubarak.
Close analysis of the false video shows the crane carried a camera, while the three men wore safety harnesses.
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A separate keyword search also found a behind-the-scenes clip detailing the music video's production, showing the same crane and harnesses (archived link).
According to Amnesty International, Nepal has abolished the death penalty (archived link).
AFP cannot find credible media reports on recent executions in Nepal.
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