Facebook posts expose personal details of 12 victims under ‘Bhagwa Love Trap’ narrative: Report

At least 12 people have faced threats, harassment and blackmail after their personal information was exposed in Facebook posts accusing them of interfaith relationships, according to an investigation by the fact-checking and digital media research initiative Dismislab published today (31 October).

Fatema (pseudonym), a young Bangladeshi student, was among those targeted. Her photograph, phone number and home address were circulated on Facebook, with posts accusing her of being involved in a relationship with a Hindu boy.

Fearing for her safety and that of her family, she told Dismislab, “I live like a thief.”

Between 1 June and 31 August, Dismislab identified 288 such posts across 23 Facebook pages. After removing duplicates, it found 194 unique posts. The posts were linked to a campaign based on the “Bhagwa Love Trap” conspiracy theory, which claims Hindu men lure Muslim women into relationships to convert them to Hinduism.

Photos appeared in 97% of the 194 unique posts, followed by names in 55%, addresses in 30%, social media profile links in 16% and phone numbers in 6% (appearing in 12 unique posts). Some posts contained multiple types of personal information. Across all 288 initial posts, address information appeared 107 times, phone numbers 23 times, and an email address once.

Of the 194 posts, 103 (53%) named both a man and a woman, while 35% targeted only men and 12% only women.

Dismislab interviewed 12 people whose phone numbers appeared in the posts and faced threats, harassment, or blackmail. Ten confirmed they were the individuals named in the posts but denied the romantic allegations, while two said they had no connection at all to the claims or the people mentioned. Some said they had put their studies and daily activities on hold due to safety concerns and social stigma.

Two interviewees said they had no connection to either the allegations or the people named in the posts. Dismislab also reviewed 31 social media profile links, finding that 17 were no longer accessible, while 14 remained active.

One victim said the posts had disrupted his work and family life, while another said the woman named in the posts was only his classmate.

A female victim described the psychological toll, saying she fainted after her father received a call from an unknown number, fearing it was a threat. She later found out it was a courier call.

Manisha Biswas, a legal expert at the Bangladesh Legal Aid and Services Trust (BLAST), warned that doxing could lead to gender-based violence, sexual harassment, blackmail, sextortion and threats against family members.

Five Facebook pages account for most posts

Five pages published about two-thirds of the 288 posts. Beautiful Islam published 62, Voice Of Ummah 39, Ruher Dak and Honor Guard BD 36 each, and Md Rasel Bhaluka Dheetpur 21.

The posts generated 109,815 reactions, comments and shares by 23 September. Mollar Alo recorded the highest engagement, with 20 posts receiving 38,186 interactions.

Its most-engaged post, published on 28 July, received 15,281 interactions by 23 September.

Beautiful Islam published the highest number of posts, but they received 5,270 interactions in total.

Website publishes directory of accused women

Dismislab also found a website called Save Muslim Girls, registered on 4 August 2026. Its “Expose List” contains a directory of women accused of relationships with Hindu men, organised by location and covering 40 districts.

The website uses derogatory language to shame women and encourages readers to share information about alleged interfaith relationships.

Meta’s privacy rules

Meta’s Community Standards restrict sharing other people’s personal contact information, including phone numbers and email addresses, as well as private residential information, with limited exceptions. One post directly urged readers to report a couple’s whereabouts if found, violating Meta’s rule against soliciting private residential information.

However, the posts reviewed by Dismislab remained on Facebook. None of the 12 victims interviewed had reported them to the platform. Some said they had stopped using Facebook rather than wait for the content to be removed.

Dismislab initially identified 3,828 posts related to the narrative across 54 Facebook pages before reviewing them for personal information. The investigation excluded posts from individual profiles and groups, so the findings do not represent all related Facebook activity.

Researchers could not independently verify every photo or allegation or establish who operated the pages.