Viral video of Umerkot blasphemy suspect’s burial by tractor

Rating Justification

The iVerify Pakistan team has reviewed this content and determined that it is false.

To reach this conclusion, the iVerify Pakistan team conducted a reverse image search to investigate the video.

Posts by multiple users on social media platform X since September 22, 2024, shared a video, claiming that it showed Umerkot blasphemy suspect Dr Shahnawaz Kunbhar’s burial in a remote area by a tractor in an inhumane manner. However, the video was shared as far back as at least July 2024.

On September 18, Dr Shahnawaz Kunbhar from Umerkot was booked in a blasphemy case and taken into “protective custody” by the local police to save him from mob lynching. Later, police took him to Mirpurkhas but the next day he was shot dead by police in, what they later declared, “an encounter”. The body was handed over to his heirs but a mob emerged again and desecrated and torched it.

His death sparked fury among media and civil society activists as they demanded justice for the doctor who ended up becoming another victim of blasphemy accusations and mob justice.

HOW IT STARTED

On September 22, Yaseen Rind, CEO of non-governmental organisation Action for Humanitarian Development, shared a video on X of a tractor burying a body covered in a white shroud.

The post’s caption said, “People also bury the corpses of animals with great respect. These are the scenes of a doctor being cremated and then buried in a remote desert.”

The clip got over 237,000 views and was reshared 1,500 times.

Writer and PML-N supporter Shama Junejo also shared the video with the caption: “Heart wrenching and horrific. This is how Dr Shahnawaz was buried. There was great injustice with this family.” The post gained over 17,000 views.

The same video was widely shared by other accounts as well which can be seen here, here and here.

METHODOLOGY

A fact check was initiated to verify the claim due to its virality and because many users pointed out in the comments of some of the posts that it was an old video.

A reverse image search conducted using screenshots to corroborate the matter yielded the same footage uploaded to Facebook on July 21, 2024.

Some users said that the video was from Balochistan while others said it showed a bandit’s burial but the actual context or further details of the video could not be conclusively determined.

However, it was conclusively determined that the body being buried was not of Dr Shahnawaz as the clip was shared back in July 2024.

FACT-CHECK STATUS: FALSE

The claim that a viral video shows the body of Dr Shahnawaz Kunbhar being buried in a remote area by a tractor in an inhumane manner after he was killed over blasphemy accusations is false.

The video was shared back in July 2024.

Evidence and References

July 21, 2024, Facebook video:
https://www.facebook.com/reel/830434805725564