In August 2024, after weeks of deadly protests, Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina resigned and fled the country. Photographs and footage went viral, showing protesters storming her official residence in Dhaka, taking chairs and other items, as well as entering bedrooms.
One photograph (archived) in particular went viral — shared by X accounts identifying themselves as located in India and Pakistan — claiming to show a group of men relaxing in Hasina's bed with their phones out. An Indian YouTube channel also used the photograph among social media footage that appeared to be from Bangladesh.
(X user @ThisHaroon)
However, the above image is not from Bangladesh, but was taken during the Sri Lanka protests of 2022. As such, we rate this claim as "Miscaptioned."
Using Google's reverse-image search tool, we found the photograph was taken in July 2022 in Sri Lanka, and it can be found in a Reuters story about protesters taking over the presidential palace in Colombo. The cover image for the article, titled "Sri Lankan protesters cook, swim, sleep in presidential palace," shows the same three men on their phones, relaxing side by side on a bed. The Sri Lankan uprising, which began partly due to the country's economic crisis, led to President Gotabaya Rajapaksa fleeing the country.
Local news coverage and social media footage from the protests in Bangladesh show people storming Hasina's official residence, celebrating and looting furniture and books. One viral video shows a protester wearing a headband of the Bangladeshi flag relaxing on a bed, though we have not independently verified where this footage was taken.
The protests in Bangladesh began in June 2024 at university campuses, initially against a controversial government jobs quota scheme. Hasina's government was accused by human-rights groups of carrying out an aggressive police crackdown against the protesters. Hasina imposed a nationwide curfew, shutting down access to phones and the internet — but to no avail. Soon, a national uprising demanded her resignation.
Around 300 people have been killed in Bangladesh in total as authorities tried to suppress the demonstrations. The country's army chief said he was assuming control and would establish an interim government.