Monika Kabir was in the middle of a photoshoot on a busy street in Dhaka, Bangladesh, when she swung her bag at an elderly man passing by, hitting him repeatedly.
She then picked up her belongings and went back to posing for the camera.
The clip went viral. The debate that followed went exactly where you would expect.
What the footage shows
The video, filmed during a promotional shoot, shows a man walking close to Kabir.
Moments later, she lashes out with her bag, striking him several times.
The man does not appear to respond aggressively. After the incident, Kabir returns to the shoot as if resuming normal service.
What Kabir says happened
The Russian-born model, who is of Indian heritage, told NDTV she acted in self-defence.
She alleged the man had groped her and made inappropriate comments that were not audible in the original footage.
She said the incident involved more than the physical contact visible on camera, insisting offensive remarks were also made.
The split reaction
The response online divided sharply. Some viewers backed Kabir, arguing that responding physically to groping in a public street was justified and that women should not be expected to stay silent when harassed.
Others accused her of overreacting, pointing out that the footage does not clearly show the man making contact.
A third camp questioned whether the whole thing was staged, noting that Kabir has previously gained attention for stunt-style videos.
The footage does not resolve the question.
The camera was rolling for the photoshoot, not for the interaction with the man, and the angle does not capture what happened in the seconds before Kabir reacted.
Why it matters
Street harassment is real, widespread and routinely dismissed. So is the manufacture of outrage content for views.
Kabir’s clip sits uncomfortably between the two, and the fact that it is impossible to tell which category it belongs to from the footage alone is precisely what made it travel so far.
The audience was forced to choose a side based on incomplete information, which is the most reliable engagement driver social media has ever produced.
For creators who operate in public spaces, the incident raises a practical question about what happens when a real or alleged confrontation is captured by a camera that was already filming. The context changes.
The audience assumes performance. And the person making the claim has to fight not just for belief but against the suspicion that everything they do on camera is content.
