Claim: A video shows a man garbed in a niqab getting caught red-handed for attempting to kidnap a child.
Fact: The clip is scripted and was created by Indian YouTuber Ankur Jatuskarn in 2023. It has been debunked several times before.
On 3 July 2024, X (formerly Twitter) account @EuropeInvasionn posted (archive) a video showing a woman in a niqab holding a baby as she is questioned aggressively by a man. Shortly after, the man starts assaulting the woman and pulls off her niqab, only to reveal another man in disguise.
The video, which has garnered two million views so far, is captioned as follows:
“A man was caught wearing a burqa and trying to kidnap a child. Burqa and hijab is not a matter of freedom, it is a matter of security. Do you agree?”
According to its bio on X, the account @EuropeInvasionn shares “News from Europe.”
Fact or Fiction?
When Soch Fact Check reverse-searched keyframes from the viral video, we came across articles by Indian fact-checking websites — all of which are accredited by the International Fact-Checking Network (IFCN) — debunking the same. These can be found here, here, here, and here.
According to Alt News, the video went viral in early 2023. “By the end of 2022, rumours of child kidnapping had become so widespread that state authorities had to intervene and issue warnings to the common people. Innumerable unrelated and scripted videos began circulating on social media,” the outlet wrote.
It added that the video was uploaded by Ankur Jatuskarn — a digital creator who creates clips showing pranks — on his YouTube channel on 18 February 2023 but without any disclaimer; it gained over 20 million views. He “post[s] violent scripted videos” and some of them “are without any disclaimer”.
A longer version of the video was also posted on two of his Facebook pages on 19 February and 23 February 2023 but the disclaimer “is visible only for a second each at the start and at the end”, the outlet wrote.
The Logical Indian mentioned that two individuals, named Ankur-Ankit Jatuskarn and Ankur Jatuskaran, were “part of the creative team” behind the video. According to BOOM Live, the original clip was titled, “बच्चा चोर बुर्के में आते है [Child kidnappers come in burqas] #gareeb #viralvideo”.
On the other hand, Fact Crescendo noted that it “found many videos of communal and domestic violence on his channel, where he can be seen playing the saviour”.
All Indian fact-checking outlets cited above noted that the disclaimers were too brief, about two seconds at a random portion, so much so that any viewer would have to pause the video to read them in full. “In addition, his short videos do not have any disclaimer at all,” one added.
Ankur Jatuskaran’s total number of followers and subscribers on Facebook, YouTube, and Instagram — here, here, here, here, and here — add up to more than 10.5 million. His personal Facebook profile states that he’s a “Youtuber / Video Creater / Pharmacist.”
His team member, Ankit Jatuskaran, has upwards of 1.46 million subscribers on YouTube.
The video was so viral that even the BBC’s Global Disinformation Team wrote a piece in August 2023, titled, “Staged videos fuel religious hate and misogyny in India.” It noted that the clip was “viewed more than 29 million times before it was deleted”.
“Scripted videos, apparently created for entertainment, are increasingly being shared on social media as true events in India. Often accompanying the videos are false claims that stoke religious hatred and misogyny,” the BBC wrote. It added, “Many of the staged videos show people wearing burkas in order to kidnap children. This could have real-life consequences – over the past few years, authorities in many Indian states have had to issue warnings against fake news after several people were attacked by mobs believing them to be kidnappers.”
The original videos were uploaded here, here, here, and here but have since been deleted.
Virality
Soch Fact Check found the video posted here, here, here, here, and here.
Conclusion: The clip does not depict a real-life incident and has been debunked several times before. It is scripted and was created by Indian YouTuber Ankur Jatuskarn in 2023.
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