Fact check finds viral schoolgirl gun video was scripted

ISLAMABAD: A widely shared video claiming to show a schoolgirl pulling a gun on men who were allegedly harassing her father at a petrol pump has been found to be scripted, according to a fact-check originally published by iVerify Pakistan, a project of CEJ-IBA and UNDP.

The clip circulated across several social media platforms on April 10, 2026, and showed a young girl in school uniform taking a firearm from her father’s car before confronting a group of men after seeing them allegedly mistreat him at a fuel station.

According to the fact-check, the video gained significant traction online. One X user, who identifies himself in his bio as a social media influencer, shared the footage with the caption “Who says a daughter is a burden? A daughter is a blessing, and the post drew 13,200 views”.

The same video was also posted by another X account with the caption “Brave Daughter. A father’s arm — girls can be strong too, not just boys.”

That post received 369,900 views. Another X user, who describes himself as a journalist, also uploaded the clip, where it collected 86,600 views.

The fact-check said the footage was then reposted by several other X users, with those shares together drawing about 321,497 views. It was also uploaded to YouTube and TikTok, where the combined total exceeded 150,000 views.

How the claim was checked

According to iVerify Pakistan, the claim was examined because of the video’s virality and public interest. The fact-checkers said a keyword search did not produce any reports from credible national or international media organisations about such an incident.

A reverse image search was then used to trace the source of the footage. This led to a YouTube Shorts video uploaded on April 9, 2026, by an account that regularly posts scripted content. The short was titled “The video went viral when a daughter saw her father being insulted and chased away the opponent after pulling a pistol from the car”

The fact-check further noted that the YouTube account described itself as posting educational and entertaining

In addition, an examination of the account showed that the same vehicle seen in the viral clip appeared in several other videos uploaded by the channel.

Based on those findings, the fact-check concluded that the footage was created for entertainment and did not depict a real-life event.

It gave the claim a false rating, stating that the assertion that the video showed a schoolgirl pulling a gun on men harassing her father was incorrect and that the clip was scripted.