Video of Malaysian saree draping expert falsely given communal twist in India

By: Anurag Baruah
May 5 2023

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Context

A video of a man draping a saree for a woman has gone viral on social media with the claim that the draper in the video is a Muslim man named Rafiq, who has made a business out of draping sarees for Hindu women during their weddings. The claim also admonishes Hindus for "stooping so low." The video has been shared by dozens of social media users on Facebook and Twitter with similar claims and a communal undertone. 

However, the video is from a fashion show from 2019. Further, the person in the video is not 'Rafiq' but Malaysian saree draper Joseph Rakesh aka Joseph Jerry, popularly known as the 'Malaysian Saree Man.' 

In Fact

We conducted a reverse image search on the screenshots of the viral video and came across the same clip uploaded by a YouTube channel named ViVi Tv on July 13, 2019. The video's description titled, "How to Wear a Saree Simple Steps l Simple Tips to Drape a Saree - Video for Women," mentioned that the video shows Malaysian saree draper Joseph Jerry draping a saree. 

We came across another video of Jerry in the same attire draping a saree for a woman on a YouTube channel named Kumaraesinggam Balasingam, published on May 11, 2019. The description of this video reads, "How I watched Joseph Jerry, the Malaysian Saree man, drape the saree effortlessly within 3 minutes for one of the models during Zobha's fashion show". 

We found a Facebook post by Jerry with multiple photos from the same event in which the two models seen in the above-mentioned videos can be seen. Both videos are from the same fashion show event by Zobha, a Malaysia-based textile manufacturing company specializing in Kancheevaram sarees. 

We also located a Facebook video titled "Fashion Show 2019 By Zobha @ 10th Indian Wedding fair 2019," published on May 5, 2019, that shows the same model wearing the saree seen in the viral video walking the ramp. She is seen prominently at 26:34-mark of the video. 

Jerry confirmed to Logically Facts that he is featured in the video and that he is not Muslim. He also stated that the video is from a fashion event held in 2019.

The Verdict

The video is from a 2019 fashion show event by Zobha in which Malaysian saree draper Jerry can be seen draping a saree for a model. It has falsely been given a communal twist by social media users, who claimed that the video shows a Muslim man named Rafiq draping sarees for Hindu women during weddings. Therefore, we have marked the claim as false.