Video of Schoolgirl Getting Kidnapped in Sri Lanka Shared With Misleading Claim
This incident is from Sri Lanka and not India. It shows a girl getting kidnapped by her cousin who was later caught.
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A video of a CCTV footage showing man kidnapping a girl walking on the street is going viral on social media. The claim insinuates that this incident happened in India.
It also states that these girls are kidnapped and later sold to brothels.
How did we find out the truth?: We performed a reverse image search on some of the keyframes of the viral video on Google lens. This led us to a report shared by a Sri Lankan news website, The Dipaar.
This report was shared on 12 January 2025 and it carried several screenshots from the same viral video.
It stated that a schoolgirl was abducted on 11 January 2025 in the Daulagala village of Gampola, Sri Lanka.
It further stated that the accused is the victim's cousin.
Taking a cue, we performed a relevant keyword search on Google which led us to several reports about this incident.
Reports shared by Sri Lankan websites namely, NewsFirst English, Ada Derana, News Wire and News First, also carried details about the incident including the viral video.
It stated that the police had located the schoolgirl who abducted in Daulagala, Kandy by her cousin, Mohammed Nassar (31).
Report was shared on 13 January.
(Source: Website/Screenshot)
Another report carried a statement from the victim's father who confirmed that this abduction was carried out as part of a scheme to extort money, dismissing another claim about romantic relationship between his daughter and the suspect.
Moreover, we did not find any other credible report stating that this incident happened in India.
Conclusion: An incident of kidnapping of a schoolgirl in Sri Lanka is being falsely shared as from India.
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