Published : 01 Nov 2026, 12:13 PM
Updated : 01 Nov 2026, 12:13 PM
A young Bangladeshi student has been living in fear after her photograph, phone number and home address were circulated on Facebook over allegations that she was in a relationship with a Hindu boy.
“I live like a thief,” the student, identified by a pseudonym as Fatema, told Dismislab, describing how the exposure of her personal information affected her safety and that of her family.
She was among people targeted by Facebook posts invoking the “Bhagwa Love Trap” conspiracy theory, which alleges that Hindu men lure Muslim women into relationships to convert them to Hinduism.
Dismislab, a Bangladesh-based fact-checking and digital media research initiative, publishes verifications of viral claims and research on online misinformation and platform manipulation.
Between Jun 1 and Aug 31, 2026, Dismislab identified 288 posts on 23 Facebook pages that disclosed personal information of people accused of being involved in interfaith relationships.
The posts contained names, photographs, residential addresses, phone numbers and social media profile links. After removing duplicates, researchers identified 194 unique posts.
Photographs appeared in 97 percent of the posts, while 107 posts (55 percent) included names, 58 (30 percent) addresses, 31 (16 percent) social media links and 12 (6 percent) phone numbers. Some posts contained multiple types of information.
The practice of publishing someone's personal information without consent, potentially exposing them to harassment and other harm, is known as doxing.
Dismislab interviewed 12 people whose phone numbers appeared in the posts. All denied the allegations and described facing threats, harassment and blackmail. Some said the incidents disrupted their studies, work and everyday lives.
One victim said the posts had affected his family and professional life, while another described becoming frightened even by routine phone calls after his personal information was exposed.
“I went to the police. They did give assurances of help, but the system is very slow. The damage had already been done within the first 24 hours. Thousands of people had already believed the lie,” one victim told Dismislab.
The investigation found that 103 of the 194 unique posts named both a man and a woman, accusing them of an interfaith relationship. Another 35 percent named only men, while 12 percent named only women.
Dismislab also found identical captions circulated across different Facebook pages and groups, often urging people to monitor their families or report the whereabouts of alleged couples.
A Small Number of Pages Drive Engagement
The 288 posts generated 109,815 reactions, comments and shares by Sept 23, averaging 381 interactions per post, according to Dismislab.
Five Facebook pages accounted for around two-thirds of the posts. Beautiful Islam published the most, with 62 posts, followed by Voice Of Ummah with 39, Ruher Dak and Honor Guard BD with 36 each, and Md Rasel Bhaluka Dheetpur with 21.
Mollar Alo recorded the highest engagement, generating 38,186 interactions from 20 posts, roughly one-third of the total.
Its most-engaged post, published on Jul 28, alleged that an extremist Hindutva organisation in Manikganj was targeting Muslim girls through the so-called “Bhagwa Love Trap”. The post received 15,281 interactions by Sept. 23.
Website Publishes Alleged Relationships
The investigation also identified a website called Save Muslim Girls, which publishes articles, videos and allegations about relationships between Muslim women and Hindu men.
Its “Expose List” section carries a derogatory title targeting Muslim women and allows visitors to browse allegations by district. The site lists 40 districts and includes entries with names, addresses and descriptions of alleged relationships.
Some entries portray women as victims of religious conversion or sexual exploitation, while others use degrading language to publicly shame them over alleged relationships.
According to domain records cited by Dismislab, the website was registered on Aug 4, 2026.
Legal and Platform Concerns
Manisha Biswas, a legal expert at the Bangladesh Legal Aid and Services Trust (BLAST), warned that doxing could lead to further abuse, particularly against women and girls.
She said exposing personal information could escalate into gender-based violence, sexual harassment, blackmail and sextortion, while also putting family members at risk.
Doxing should be viewed not merely as a privacy violation but as a potential route from online abuse to real-world harm, she added.
Meta's Community Standards restrict sharing other people's private contact information, including phone numbers and email addresses, as well as private residential information, subject to limited exceptions.
Dismislab found that the documented posts remained on Facebook during its review. The investigation could not establish whether Meta's automated systems or moderators had detected them.
None of the 12 victims interviewed said they had reported the posts to Facebook. Some said they had stopped using the platform instead.
How the Investigation Was Conducted
Dismislab searched Facebook using the Bangla keyword for “Bhagwa Love” and identified 54 pages publishing related content.
Researchers collected posts published between Jun 1 and Aug 31, 2026, identifying 3,828 posts related to the narrative. Of these, 288 posts from 23 pages disclosed personal information. After duplicates were removed, 194 unique posts remained.
The investigation excluded posts from individual Facebook profiles and groups. Dismislab said the findings therefore do not represent all Facebook activity linked to the narrative.
It also could not independently verify every photograph or allegation, identify the operators of the pages or establish whether the pages were coordinated.
