Claim: A viral graphic card, carrying a photo of the doctor who was raped in the Anuradhapura Hospital on-call room.
Fact: This is false. The image seen in the viral graphic card does not show the doctor who was raped in the Anuradhapura Hospital last week, but instead belongs to a well known health influencer. Personal information about the rape victim has not been released to the media yet.
Several social media users are sharing a graphic claiming to show the doctor who was raped in the Anuradhapura Hospital last week. The graphic card features the image of a young woman in a sari sporting a stethoscope, with the Sinhala text, “In the official quarters of doctors… a pretty lady doctor has been abused by a sex-hungry man. Here’s the story from the Anuradhapura Hospital…”
The claim can also be found here and here.
Newschecker decided to check the veracity of this photo due to the large amount of attention this case has been getting.
Fact Check/Verification
Newschecker started by conducting a reverse image search on the viral graphic card which directed us to the Facebook page of one Dr Priya Sammani, a popular health content creator, who has been identified as the rape survivor in the viral graphic card.
On scanning her Facebook page, we found a statement in Sinhala, clarifying that her photo has been wrongly used without her consent.
“[People] have edited this graphic with my photo to get views in a really terrible, offensive way. It is false. Please report that post. Remember that CERT can find the original poster and people who have shared it and take legal action against them,” her statement read.
We also checked whether the authorities or any reliable media sources have released any personal information about the rape survivor, but could not find any relevant information.
Conclusion
The image seen in the viral graphic card does not show the doctor who was raped in the Anuradhapura Hospital last week, but instead belongs to a well known influencer.
Result: False
Our Sources
Facebook account of Dr. Priya Sammani
If you would like us to fact-check a claim, give feedback or lodge a complaint, email us at [email protected]. You can also visit the Contact Us page and fill out the form.
