Video shows women dancing in India metro, not Bangladesh
Footage of two women performing an intimate dance in a train carriage was filmed in India, contrary to social media posts falsely claiming the incident occurred in Bangladesh. Posts accused the pair of "promoting homosexuality" in the conservative Muslim-majority country. However, a Delhi metro official confirmed the stunt took place in the Indian capital. Police were reportedly investigating the women for allegedly breaking laws on "nuisance" and "obscene acts and songs".
The video shows two women sitting on the floor of a train carriage smearing each other with coloured powder. A Bengali love song plays in the background.
It was shared on Facebook on March 24, 2024, as India celebrated Holi, widely known as the Hindu festival of colours (archived link).
"Bangladeshi women are truly independent and here they have the scope to do whatever they wish to do," reads the Bengali-language post.
"And they are promoting homosexuality."
The LGBTQ community still faces widespread discrimination in Bangladesh. While transgender people have become increasingly visible in society, a colonial-era law remains in place to punish gay sex with prison terms -- though enforcement is rare.
The video was shared in similar Facebook posts falsely claiming it was filmed in Bangladesh here and here.
Holi video in Delhi
A reverse image search on Google found the video posted by an India-based Instagram account on March 21, 2024 (archived link).
In the video, which is captioned "Happy Holi", the Hindi song "Aang Laga De" from an Indian adaptation of "Romeo and Juliet" is heard playing -- not a Bengali song.
Below is a screenshot comparison of the video shared in false posts (left) and the clip posted on Instagram (right):
India's Times Now news channel reported that the women in the video lived in Delhi were originally from Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh in northern India (archived link).
The pair and a male friend faced legal action over the footage and were previously fined for stunts they performed while riding a scooter, it added.
The Times of India reported that Delhi police were investigating the women for allegedly violating laws on "obscene acts and songs" and "drunkenness or nuisance on metro railway (archived link).
A Delhi Metro Rail Corporation official confirmed to AFP on April 2, 2024 that the company had reported the incident to police.
