'Staged photograph': Viral image of handcuffed child not real, says Rumor Scanner

An image of a child in handcuffs is being spread with false claims of the child being arrested by police after failing to find his Awami League activist father.

An investigation by fact-check website Rumor Scanner has found that "the viral photo of a child in handcuffs is not of a real incident but a staged image".

Referring to the posts containing the child's picture, the fact-check website in a recent article said, "The child's name, identity, or location were not mentioned in these posts".

A video link is also being shared in various posts and comments as proof of this claim. 

"The video being shared as evidence in favour of the image is of a different child. As a result, the video is not admissible as evidence for the viral image," Rumor Scanner found.

"A review of various posts and comments has shown that a video and a screenshot from the video are being shared as evidence of the viral handcuffed photo. The video shows a child with his mother in a prison van.

"Although the video was circulated with the claim that 'Police arrested his wife and three-year-old child after failing to find the Awami League leader,' it was found that the Awami League leader, former councilor Hasibur Rahman Manik, has already been arrested in a murder case and is in jail, and there is no information about his bail," it stated.

Rumor Scanner investigations have revealed that the woman seen in the video is Farzana Rahman Nila. "She is the wife of former councilor Hasibur Rahman Manik, who was arrested in a student murder case. In some old posts and videos found on Facebook, she was seen carrying the child in her arms when she was presented in court a few days ago."

"There is no reliable information available that the child seen in this video has been detained. Although there are claims that the child has also been arrested. However, initial analysis shows that the child was not arrested; rather, the arrested mother took him with her," the fact-checking website added.

Meanwhile, a post on Facebook claimed that Farzana Rahman Nila was arrested not in a political or murder case, but in an old case related to a bank loan. "However, the truth of this claim was not verified by Rumor Scanner.