Claim: A video shows a man lying naked on a bed, with a white cloth over his genitals and bruises on his backside. Social media users claim the man is former prime minister Imran Khan’s aide, Dr Shahbaz Gill.
Fact: The man is not Dr Shahbaz Gill as a longer version of the same clip reveals his face; unlike Gill, the man in the video has a moustache.
On 20 August 2022, a 15-second video of a man lying naked on a bed with a white cloth over his genitals and bruises on his buttocks was shared widely on social media, with users claiming it shows Gill after jail officials tortured him in prison.
Social media users wrote different captions alongside the video, some of which are as follows:
- “This is what they have done to a political worker. Peofessor Shahnaz a personal staff officer of Imran ex PM of Pakistan. Present govt torcher him.Used evasive force and sexually raped him during investigation . Human right situation.”
- “یہ ہے شہباز گل کی ویڈیو پاکستانی عوام اب کس چیز کا انتظار کررہے ہیں؟ جب سب کیساتھ ایسا ہوگا تب نکلوگے؟ ضروری نہیں کہ عمران خان کال دے اور اپ لوگ نکل جاۓ ابھی نکلو اور ان خنزیروں کا حشر سری لنکا والوں سے بھی بدتر کردو۔ [Here is the video of Shahbaz Gill. What are the people of Pakistan waiting for now? Will they get out when this happens to everyone? It is not necessary for Imran Khan to give a call for you to get out… get out now and make the fate of these pigs worse than Sri Lankans.]”
- “واقعی ننگا کر کے مارا گیا ۔۔۔۔ منہ کی بواسیر کے ساتھ ساتھ اصل بواسیر کا علاج بھی کیا گیا ہے۔ [He was really stripped off and beaten… Oral haemorrhoids, as well as actual haemorrhoids, have been treated.]”
- “ڈاکٹر شہباز گل کی پمز ہسپتال میں دل دہلا دینے والی تصویر۔ اس تشدد کے خلاف آواز اٹھانا ہم پر فرض ہے وقت کبھی کسی کا نہیں رہتا ہے وقت بدل جاتا ہے اسی طرح یہ لوگ بلوچوں کو بھی مارتے ہیں اور تشدد کرتے ہیں بولتے ہیں بلوچ دہشتگرد ہیں پر اب ہمیں پتا چل رہا ہے کون سچا ہے اور کون جھوٹا [Heartbreaking photo of Dr. Shahbaz Gill at PIMS Hospital. It is our duty to raise our voices against this violence. Time never belongs to anyone, time changes. These people also kill and torture the Baloch people the same way and say Baloch are terrorists… but now we know who is honest and who is a liar.]”
Gill is in jail as a sedition case against him is heard in court following his remarks on ARY News that the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) claimed were “hateful and seditious”.
Soch Fact Check has previously debunked claims pertaining to Shahbaz Gill here and here.
Fact or Fiction?
Soch Fact Check found an extended version of the video revealing the man’s face after he is turned over. The longer version — which we are not linking to due to its graphic nature — shows that the man has a moustache, something that Gill does not sport.
Additionally, some social media users pointed out that the video is a few years old and depicts an alleged child abuser in Shakargarh, Khindarian or Chakwal, who village locals caught. These posts also allege locals beat the man in question and cut off his genitals. However, Soch Fact Check was unable to verify this information.
Virality
Soch Fact Check conducted a CrowdTangle analysis for the seven-day period from 15 August 2022 to 22 August using the following search terms:
- “ڈاکٹر شہباز گل کی پمز ہسپتال میں دل دہلا دینے والی تصویر”
- “شہباز گل جنسی زیادتی”
- “شہباز گل برہنہ”
- “شہباز گل تشدد”
The first search term yielded 154 Facebook posts that gained over 20,000 interactions.
The second search term turned up 95,314 interactions across 1,174 posts on Facebook and 2,910 interactions across eight posts on Instagram.
The third search term turned up 36,900 interactions across 96 posts on Facebook and 590 interactions across one post on Instagram.
The fourth search term yielded the highest number of results, with over 3.36 million interactions across more than 13,200 Facebook posts and over 116,000 interactions across more than 150 Instagram posts. However, this search term is fairly generic and does not necessarily include false or misleading posts.
On Twitter, the video and screenshots from it appeared here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, and here.
Conclusion: The man in the viral video is not Dr Shahbaz Gill as a longer version of the same clip reveals his face after he is turned over; the man has a moustache, which Gill does not have.