Two videos featuring Muslim 'couples' are being shared widely on social media. The women in these clips claim that they are married to their paternal uncles. Internet users are circulating these to deride the Muslim community.
The first video shows a burqa-clad woman and a man in a skull cap standing together and being questioned by an individual recording the video. In the 3-minute long video, the 'couple' tells the person behind the camera that they are husband and wife. On being asked how they were related before marriage, they explain that she was the man's niece (his elder brother's daughter). They add that they are a bit worried because their families do not approve of their union since she is like a daughter to the man but because they were in love, they chose to get married. They further add that such relationships (within the family) are "normal in our culture". Afraid that their families might track them down and do something untoward because they do not approve of this union, they say that they are making these videos so that their families do not coming looking for them or hurting them.
The woman adds, "You must know this happens in our community (referring to Muslim families acting violently if they disapprove of a romantic union)."
Premium X user Bhaskar Mishra (@Bhaskar_m11) posted the above-mentioned video on March 1 with a sarcastic caption in Hindi ridiculing the Muslim community by using puns for 'mazhab' or religion: "This is called the hub of enjoyment (Mauj-hub) 🧕😜 Daughter and wife at the same time." The post has received over 163,000 views and has been reshared over 900 times (Archive).
The second video, 46 seconds long, also features a burqa-clad woman with a man. In this, the woman begins by saying that the two of them have run away from their home. Gesturing at the man standing next to her, she says that he is her paternal uncle and the two of them got married. Like in the first video, this couple too claims that through the video they wish to tell their families to not come looking for them.
Noida-based news outlet called State Mirror News, shared this clip on their Instagram page on January 28 with a text on the screen that says, "Muslim woman ran away with our own blood-related paternal uncle". (Archive)
Fact Check
To check the authenticity of the claims made in these videos, we broke down both the videos into multiple frames. A reverse image search on some of these key frames led us to the following findings.
Video 1:
The key frames from this video led us to a Facebook post by a page called 'Ankita Karotiya 2.0'. On February 23, the page shared a longer version of the viral clip titled: "Is this right?"
https://www.facebook.com/61552726540544/videos/1138461087961086
At the 5:59-minute mark of the over 6-minute video, we found a disclaimer appearing on the screen. This appears for barely a quarter of a second and can easily be missed by viewers. The disclaimer says, "This video is purely made for entertainment purposes only. This video has no intention to disrespect or defame based on race, color, ancestry, national origin, ethnic group identification, age, religion, marital or parental status, physical or mental disability, sex, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity or expression." The text was signed off by Ankita Karotiya, which is the same name as the page. Other videos shared on this page also carry the same disclaimer.
We also checked the 'About' section of the Facebook page and found that it has been categorised as 'Digital Creator - Actor'.
Thus, it is clear that the viral clip does not depict an actual incident but is from a scripted video posted on the Facebook page of a digital creator.
Video 2:
A reverse image search of frames from the second video also led us to a Facebook post made by a page called 'Prakash Entertainment'. The video was posted on the page on January 4. The 'About' section of this Facebook page categorises it as 'Actor'. There was no longer version of this particular video but we found a very similar video of a Muslim 'couple', otherwise cousins, with the same storyline shared by the page, which had a disclaimer. All three videos (the latest one and viral videos 1 and 2) have been shot at the same location.
The Facebook page was linked to the Instagram profile of one 'Prakash Singh' (@prakash_badal9). Some of the videos on this profile had tagged Ankita Karotiya (@ankita_karotiya21). This is the same Ankita Karotiya whose Facebook page that had shared the first viral video. Alt News verified this by cross-checking the Instagram account linked to her Facebook page Ankita Karotiya 2.0.
The Facebook page Prakash Entertainment had also shared some images of Prakash Singh and Ankita Karotiya together. Both these pages (Prakash Entertainment and Ankita Karotiya 2.0) have made several videos on offbeat relationships.
All these findings hint that it was very likely that the second video too was scripted. However, what confirmed our suspicion was another video posted on by Prakash Entertainment where the 'groom' from viral video 2 can be seen again.
Thus, the second viral clip of a burqa-clad woman claiming she married her paternal uncle too does not depict a real incident but just content created by a social media page.
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