Claim: A video shows Punjab Information Minister Azma Bokhari kissing a man.
Fact: The video is doctored; Bokhari’s face was superimposed onto an unrelated video of two people who have not been identified.
On 25 July 2024, YouTube channel Roaster Boy 💀 posted (archive) a video allegedly showing Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader and Punjab’s information minister, Azma Bokhari, kissing an unidentified man.
The clip is titled “عظمی بخاری کی ویڈیو جاری کر دی گئی، چمیاں دے رہی💀 [Azma Bokhari’s video released, [she is] giving kisses💀].”
Bokhari raised the issue on her X (formerly Twitter) account, writing:
“کل لاہور ہائیکورٹ میں چیف جسٹس صاحبہ سے اپنے لئے انصاف مانگنے جاوں گی؟کیا ہم عورتوں کے لئے بھی کوئی انصاف ہے یا یہ سہولت صرف دہشتگردوں کے لئے ہے؟ہتک عزت پہ کاروائی روکنے والوں سے سوال کروں گی کہ بتائیں ہمارے لئے اب کیا حکم ہے؟اب بس اور نہیں،کل خود اپنا کیس لڑوں گی
[Tomorrow, I will go to Lahore High Court to seek justice for myself from the chief justice. Is there any justice for us women too or is this facility only for terrorists? I will ask those who stopped action on defamation to tell us what is the order for us now? No more, I will fight my case tomorrow.]”
It appears that she also responded to a post by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) activist Sanam Javaid Khan’s sister, Falak Javaid Khan, who wrote about the video in question. While Falak’s post has now been deleted, unverified screenshots — posted here, here, and here — show that she apparently talked about a video of “Maid No. 3 Azma Bak Bak” being leaked; the text is as follows:
“کنیز نمبر ۳ عظمی بک بک کی بھی ویڈیو لیک۔۔۔ دوسروں کی عزتیں اچھالنے والے خود بھی محفوظ نہیں رہتے۔۔۔ خیر گھٹیا کام ہے جو بھی کرے اللہ ہدایت دے۔۔۔ سب کی عزتیں محفوظ رکھے۔۔۔!!!
[The video of Maid No. 3 Azma Bak Bak was also leaked. Those who dishonour others do not remain safe themselves either. Regardless, it is a depraved thing to do, may Allah guide whoever does that and protect everyone’s honour!!!]”
Bokhari responded by saying, “Don’t run and cry now, you depraved woman.” She also spoke about rules and laws and how they have been challenged in the courts here, here, and here.
Falak also shot back, claiming that she neither named Bokhari nor posted the actual video.
In another post, the PTI activist wrote that a “harassment case” should be filed against Bokhari, who was “putting her life at risk” and “hurting her reputation” by levelling “baseless allegations”. She claimed it was the work of “people paid by you [the provincial minister]” and reiterated that she did not share the video or the image nor did she name her.
Bokhari approaches court
The provincial minister decided to approach the Lahore High Court (LHC), according to a 25 July report by Express News, with the incumbent federal government, the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA), and Falak Javaid Khan named as respondents.
On 31 July, Dunya News reported that the LHC issued a notice to the FIA director-general.
The incident was denounced by multiple government officials. Information and Broadcasting Minister Attaullah Tarar said the video was made “using deepfake” under a “well-thought-out plan”. He further said, “The original video has also been traced and the rest of the information has also been obtained.”
Shaza Fatima Khawaja, the Minister of State for Information Technology and Telecommunication, said the government would go after the culprits who used “deepfake technology” to create the video as a “conspiracy” and give them “exemplary punishment”, ARY News reported.
“Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif [has] issued directives to law enforcement agencies, including the FIA, and the Ministers of Interior and IT, to take strict actions against those targeting and defaming the women,” she added, according to the report.
In an interview, Bokhari’s husband and Punjab Assembly lawmaker, Sami Ullah Khan, termed the “social media campaign” against his wife as “digital terrorism”.
Fact or Fiction?
Soch Fact Check reverse-searched keyframes from the viral video, as well as the image from standalone posts, to ascertain the clip’s source.
We were able to trace it back to multiple pornographic websites here, here, and here. The video does not show Bokhari at all but another, unidentified woman, engaged intimately with a man.
Interestingly, almost all the videos we came across on social media contain the clip showing the intimate act, but the woman’s face is not visible; however, they also contain a still image, where Bokhari’s face has been superimposed. Therefore, while the video has been doctored it is, perhaps, inaccurate to claim — as Tarar and Khawaja, the ministers, did — that the clip was made using deepfake technology.
Virality
Soch Fact Check conducted a CrowdTangle analysis for the seven-day period between 23 and 30 July 2024 using the following search term “عظمی بخاری ویڈیو”. We found over 1,200 posts that garnered more than 41,500 interactions. However, it is important to note that some of these were news reports about Bokhari’s reactions and statements to the media.
We found the video shared here, here, here, and here on X (formerly Twitter). It was also posted on YouTube here, here, here, and here.
The clip was also shared on Facebook here, here, here, and here, with this post gaining upwards of 1.1 million views.
The video was also posted on the video monetisation platform Febspot here.
Conclusion: The video is doctored, with Azma Bokhari’s face superimposed on to an unrelated video featuring unidentified individuals. The original clip is available on multiple pornographic websites.
Background image in cover photo: @AzmaBokhariPMLN
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