Unrelated Video of a Girl Being Abducted in Sri Lanka Viral With Communal Spin

Neither is this video from India nor does it have any communal angle to it.

Fact-Check | The video is old and there is no communal angle to the incident.

(Photo: Altered by The Quint)

A video of a man trying to abduct a girl, while another individual could be seen stopping the man, is being circulated on social media platforms as visuals from a recent incident.

What have users said?: An X (formerly Twitter) premium user shared the clip with a caption saying, "He is a real hero. Afroz and Imran were kidnapping a girl named Ayesha. A boy named Harshvardhan was passing by. To save her, he risked his life and saved the girl whom he did not even know. This is the eternal Hindu tradition..."

An archive of the post can be found here.

(Source: X/Screenshot)

The above post had recorded over a million views on the platform. More archives of similar such claims could be found here, here, and here.

What are the facts?: The claim is false and lacks proper context.

• The visuals date back to January and are from Sri Lanka's Daulagala, when a girl was abducted over a family dispute.

• The man, who tried to save the victim, was identified as one 'Mohammad Izadeen Arshad Ahmed'.

How did we find that out?: Using the help of Google Lens, we conducted a reverse image search and came across a news report published by Asian Mirror.

• It said that the schoolgirl, who had been kidnapped in Daulagala, was found with the abductor by the police near the Ampara Bus Stand.

• The accused was identified as the son of the girl's father's sister and was arrested.

• The report further said that the abduction took place over a family dispute over a proposed marriage as per the police.

The report was published on 13 January 2025.

(Source: Asian Mirror/Screenshot)

Other sources: The Morning, in its report, added that the accused was identified as a 31-year-old man named Mohammed Nassar — a resident of Kahatapitiya in Gampola.

• The victim's father clarified that there was no romantic relationship between his daughter and the accused.

• He said that the accused was his nephew and added that the abduction was carried out to extort money.

• We found the same visuals published on a YouTube channel named 'Newsfirst English'.

Who tried saving the girl?: A different report by Asian Mirror said that Sri Lanka Police have commended a 25-year-old electrician named Mohammad Izadeen Arshad Ahmed, who tried rescuing a schoolgirl from getting abducted.

Conclusion: It is evident that the man who tried rescuing a girl from getting abducted in Sri Lanka is being misidentified as one Harshvardhan.

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