Recently, a video circulated widely on social media platforms such as Facebook, X, YouTube, and TikTok, falsely claiming that Monica Yunus, daughter of interim government advisor Dr. Muhammad Yunus, was detained for driving under the influence and was a lesbian. A fact-check reveals these claims to be untrue.
The viral video actually features another individual named Monica, who was mistakenly identified as Monica Yunus. According to Bangladesh-based fact-checking organization Rumor Scan, the video originates from a channel called Transparency Bodycam. It was published on August 28, 2023, with the title “Drunk Woman Crashes her Car After a Breakup in Verona, New Jersey.” The incident reportedly occurred on April 16, 2022, in Verona, New Jersey. The woman in the video identifies herself as Monica Yunus, claiming she was born in New York and of Puerto Rican descent. However, this Monica Yunus is not the daughter of Dr. Yunus.
Comparing the faces of the woman in the video with verified images of Dr. Yunus’s daughter further confirms their dissimilarity. Additionally, official records show that Dr. Yunus’s daughter was born in Chattogram, Bangladesh, and not New York. She is an opera singer and has been married to fellow opera singer Brandon McReynolds since 2009, with no credible evidence supporting claims of her sexual orientation as stated in the video.
Further analysis of the original bodycam footage reveals the incident had no connection to Dr. Yunus’s family. The woman in question was found guilty in May 2022 and penalized accordingly.
Dr. Yunus’s daughter, Monica Yunus, is a distinguished opera singer who resides in the United States. Her professional and personal history do not align with the baseless claims made in the video. This misinformation was shared by various sources, including verified Facebook pages and an Indian YouTube channel, falsely linking the incident to Dr. Yunus’s family for political and social reasons.
Hence, the allegation that Dr. Muhammad Yunus’s daughter was arrested for drunk driving is conclusively false.
