A decade-old self-immolation video of a teacher in Punjab is being shared linking it to the ongoing hijab row. - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
February 11, 2022
Amidst the hijab row in Karnataka, protests broke out in many parts of the country.  In this context, a video of a woman setting herself ablaze on top of a water tank is being shared with a claim linking it to the ongoing hijab protest. The video is being shared with a caption that the ‘woman tried to burn the hijab but set herself ablaze’ Through this article, let’s fact-check the claim made in the post.
Claim: Recent Hijab Row – Video of a woman setting herself ablaze in an attempt to burn the hijab.
Fact: This is a more than a decade old video wherein a woman teacher in Kapurthala, Punjab immolated herself demanding enhancement of marks in her high school exams that would help her get admitted to an elementary teacher training course. The incident has nothing to do with the hijab. Hence the claim made in the post is FALSE.
The video is more than a decade old and has nothing to do with the ongoing hijab row. A reverse image search of the screenshots of the video led us to a 2010 news report which reported similar visuals. The report is about the death of a protesting female teacher who immolated herself on top of a water tank in Kapurthala, Punjab.
A further search yielded news reports of the incident. As per these reports, ‘the woman set herself ablaze after climbing atop a water tank on Sunday evening, demanding enhancement of marks in her high school exams that would help her get admitted to an elementary teacher training course’.
Another news article that reported the incident can be read here. There is no mention of the burning of hijab in any of these news reports. By this, we can infer that the video has nothing to do with the burning of the hijab as claimed in the post.
To sum it up, a decade-old self-immolation video of a teacher in Punjab is being shared linking it to the ongoing hijab row.