Claim: A news package by German broadcaster Deutsche Welle (DW) accuses PTI supporter Shehr Bano of misusing funds meant for children’s tiffins in Sargodha.
Fact: The audio of the news package has been AI-generated. The original video report was published on 29 April 2026 by US broadcaster Voice of America (VOA), and makes no mention of Shehr Bano.
On 2 May 2026, an account on X shared a 52-second long video (archive), and wrote in the caption:
“جو شہر بانو ہر وقت مریم نواز پر بھونکتی تھی وہی تحریک انصاف کی شہربانو فنڈ کھا گئی پانچ کروڑ کی لکثری گاڑی اسی فنڈ سے خرید لی DW کی رپورٹ دیکھیں لیڈر وی چور سپورٹر وی چور-“
Translation: [“The Shehr Bano, who used to bark at Maryam Nawaz all the time, is the same Shehr Bano of PTI, who ate the funds and bought a luxury car worth Rs 50 million from that. See DW’s report. The leader and supporter both are thieves.”]
The video starts with the DW logo’s animation and a picture of Shehr Bano, a young human rights activist who is known for her support for jailed former Prime Minister Imran Khan. The transcription of the voiceover behind the report is as follows:
“Financial scam: Shehrbano allegedly misappropriates children’s tiffin funds. In a scandal that has rocked the community, Shehrbano, famously known as Sargodha’s sparrow, is reportedly at the centre of a major funding deception. Allegations have surfaced that Bano misappropriated substantial funds collected from Dubai, originally intended for the children. This initiative aimed to provide meals for underprivileged school children, but instead the funds were diverted for personal luxury. The scandal has drawn widespread condemnation from both the public and the authorities. Parents and the community members, who trusted that their contributions would benefit the children, are now demanding justice and stringent members against the perpetrators. The misuse of charitable donations for personal luxury reflects a blatant disregard for ethical standards and has sparked a call for rigorous financial oversight in charitable activities.”
A blue ticker runs throughout the video as well that changes its text thrice:
- From 0:03 till 0:15, the ticker reads, “Shehr Bano: Sargodha Sparrow’s Dubai Funds Scam.”
- From 0:18 till 0:29, it reads, “Funds Collected for Children’s Tiffins from Dubai Misused.
- From 0:33 till 0:52, the ticker reads, “5 Crore Dubai Collection Diverted to Personal Luxury Car Purchase.”
The video was also shared by Hina Pervez Butt, an MPA of the ruling party of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N). She wrote on her X account:
جیسا فراڈ یا لیڈر ہے، ویسی ہی فراڈن چیلی۔۔افسوس کہ سب سے بڑے کرپٹ ہونے کے باوجود پی ٹی آئی والے خود کو دودھ کا دھلا کہتے ہیں
Translation: [“As fraudulent as the leader is, his disciples are fraudulent as well…. It’s a pity that, despite being the biggest corrupt ones, PTI folks claim to be pure as milk.]
Fact or Fiction?
Soch Fact Check conducted a reverse-image search, which led to a YouTube video by Voice of America (VOA), a prominent American international broadcast network. The video was published on 29 April 2016, back when VOA was still operational in Pakistan.
The video, titled “Pakistani School Helps Slum Kids,” is one minute and 51 seconds long. It reports on a man named Muhammad Ayub who runs a makeshift school in a public park in Islamabad for underprivileged kids. While some of the visuals, like children walking with their backpacks or children walking in a line, does match the video being fact-checked, the report does not mention any activist named Shehr Bano nor does it talk about any financial scam.
Similar visuals shared by the both the videos
Similar visuals shared by both the videos
Moreover, the video present on VOA’s channel does not contain a DW logo, nor does it feature the news tickers in the video being fact-checked.
Top: The claim shared by X user shows DW logo, Bottom: The original video shows a watermark of VOA and does not feature any tickers
Moreover, the video in the claim shows different visuals at several timestamps compared to the original VOA report.
For example, the viral video on X starts with an image of Shehr Bano, followed by a video of some food items in a silver tiffin whereas the video on VOA’s channel starts with a visual of a child reading from a blackboard.
On the timestamp of 0:37, the X video shows a visual of a car from the inside whereas the timestamp of 0:37 of the VOA report features an interview of Ayub, a firefighter turned teacher in Islamabad who made it his life mission to teach slum children. These inconsistencies, therefore, indicate that the video in the claim is digitally altered.
Top: Time stamp of 0:37 of VOA report shows interview of Ayub, Bottom: Time stamp of 0:37 of the video on X shows the inside of a car
Mainly, since the voiceover in the X video also does not match the voiceover featured in the VOA video, Soch Fact Check tested the audio using Hiya Deepfake Voice Detector using two phrases, “financial scam shehrbano allegedly misappropriates” and “the scandal has drawn widespread condemnation.”
The first phrase showed an authenticity score of 1/100. The tool indicated that the sampled voice is “likely a deepfake.”
The second phrase showed an authenticity score of 7/100. The tool again indicated that the sampled voice is “likely a deepfake.”
Analysis of audio by Hiya Deepfake Voice Detector
Soch Fact Check also reached out to Ayesha Tanzeem, Director of South & Central Asia, VOA, who produced the original video for the outlet in 2016. She termed the video in the claim “a clear case of disinformation.”
In a brief comment, Tanzeem said, “Someone has deliberately tried to misuse this video to misinform the public. It is also clear to me that the voice used in the video is AI generated—although a common person may not be able to detect that.This kind of disinformation has become common and is very dangerous because it takes credibility away from legitimate news organizations. Not only is this video stolen, the use of the DW logo is a direct attack on DW’s credibility. This is a huge challenge for news organizations.”
Update: On 7 May 2026, DW’s Corporate Communication team also confirmed that they did not produce any such video about the activist. They said, “The video does not originate from DW. This can be recognized by incorrect graphics and fonts. Moreover, DW would not report on such a topic in this manner. Unfortunately, this is not the first case of media spoofing in which DW’s logo has been used to spread false narratives.”
Considering the similarities between the VOA video on YouTube and the video shared in the claim, the results from an online detector, and the comments from Tanzeem and DW both, Soch Fact Check concludes that the video is digitally altered and the claim is false
Virality
The post was shared on X here, here, here, and here.
It was also shared on Facebook here, here, and here.
Conclusion: DW did not publish any report on the young activist Shehr Bano misusing funds meant for underprivileged kids in Sargodha. The audio behind the original news package by VOA was replaced by AI-generated voiceover.