This Viral Video Doesn't Show Muslims Auctioning Women; Old Video Viral Amidst Pathaan Controversy

Shah Rukh Khan starrer film Pathaan has landed into controversy after Madhya Pradesh minister Narottam Mishra called for a ban on the upcoming film over the outfits and scenes seen in the newly released song 'Besharam Rang.' Reacting to social media users calling for the boycott of the film, Shah Rukh Khan, at the inauguration of the 28th edition of the Kolkata International Film Festival, said, "Social media is often driven by a certain narrowness of view that limits human nature to its baser self."

Meanwhile, a video is viral on social media which shows chains tied on the wrists of four veiled women with a few men who seems to be their captor. The viral video allegedly depicts a group of people openly auctioning women on the street. Taking a jibe at Shah Rukh Khan's film, people on social media claimed it demonstrates how 'real' Pathans treat women in contrast to what Bollywood narrative shows them.

A Twitter user shared this video and wrote a caption which reads, "असली पठान ऐसे होते बॉलिवुड वाले तो हम को ऐसे ही पागल बनाते | लड़कियों की बोली लगाई जा रही है. #बायकॉट_पठान."

[Translation: Real Pathans are like this. Bollywood people make us confused. Girls are being auctioned. #Boycott Pathan.]

It is being widely shared on Facebook and Twitter with similar claims.

Claim:

Viral video shows Muslim people auctioning women on the street.

Fact Check:

The Logical Indian fact check team verified the viral claim and found it to be false. The viral video is a part of street play and available on the internet since 2014.

During the initial investigation, we did a reverse image search using the Invid tool and came across a similar footage in a report of BBC dated back to 2014. The title of the video reads, "#BBCtrending: The mock Islamic State slave auction in London". According to the report, it was a social media campaign against Islamic State by Kurdish activists which was performed outside Downing Street and the House of Parliament in London.

Taking a hint from it, we did an open keyword search, which led us to a UK-based website, Telgraf. The article is headlined in Turkish, English translation of which reads, "Meaningful action against ISIS gangs in London (Video)." In this report, several stills of viral videos can be seen. The report stated that the youth set up the "ISIS women's market" in a theatrical style in front of the UK parliament to draw attention to the thousands of women that ISIS gangs kidnapped and sold in the markets.

The site published a report on 17 October 2014, which carried the same picture credited to Ari Murad.

Taking a clue from here, we searched for Ari Murad and came across his Facebook page that published the video on 1 March 2016. The 3-minute-long video has the same scenes as the shared photo and is titled "ISIS Sex Slave Market in London (Protest)." The video caption mentions the names of the people associated with the play. 'Compassion 4 Kurdistan', a group of the Kurdish diaspora, who registered their protest by staging a street play at Leicester Square in London to create awareness about the Islamic State of Syria and Iraq's (ISIS) actions in Iraq.

The video's starting annexes some facts and figures related to ISIS and states, "This demonstration is intended to shock audiences into seeing ISIS and their brutality."

Our investigation shows that the viral video is almost 8 years old. It was a street play on "Islamic State sex slave market" staged in 2014 by a group of Kurdistan activists on the street of London. It has nothing to do with Shah Rukh Khan's upcoming movie. Hence, the viral claim is false.

If you have any news that you believe needs to be fact-checked, please email us at factcheck@thelogicalindian.com or WhatsApp at 6364000343.

Also Read: Did PM Modi Show His Support For SRK's Pathaan? No, Viral Video Shows Old Speech From 2019