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Fact Check
An image shows the skeletal remains of a mother holding her baby unearthed during the 2025 Chemmani mass grave excavation.
The viral collage featuring a skeleton of a woman holding a baby is AI-generated. While skeletal remains of a small child were reportedly found near an adult skeleton during the initial pit tests of the excavation, the identities of the remains have not been confirmed. There is no official evidence of a mother holding her child among the remains recovered so far.
The second phase of excavation at the Chemmani–Sinthupathi mass grave site in Jaffna is currently underway and drawing renewed public attention to the allegations of extrajudicial killings during the civil war.
During excavations carried out over the past week, archaeologists also recovered a dress, a bag, slippers, and a toy suggesting the presence of civilian victims, possibly including children.
In this context, a Facebook post featuring a collage of two images has gone viral: one showing a woman holding a baby, and the other, purportedly showing a skeleton excavated from the Chemmani mass grave in a similar position. The post is shared with a lengthy caption in Tamil, suggesting that “even when buried, a mother’s love remains alive,” referring to the skeletal remains. It also includes Tamil hashtags that read: #மண்ணுக்குள் #ஒரு #மகாகாவியம்.
The same image was widely shared on Facebook, TikTok, X, and Instagram, along with the same hashtags and various emotional captions. Examples of the posts can be seen here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, and here.
The captions on these posts on social media seemed to indicate that the skeleton was unearthed during the excavations at Chemmani.
To verify whether the image circulating on social media is genuine, we conducted a combination of a Google keyword search and a reverse image search. This led us to a news report confirming that the post is false. On June 30, 2025, Daily Mirror published a report stating that the image was shown by Member of Parliament Archuna Ramanathan during a parliamentary session on the same day. The report clarified that the image is false and that no skeletal remains of a mother holding a baby have been found during the second phase of the excavation.
We then closely analysed the viral image and noticed several elements indicating that it was not authentic. For example, both images in the collage appear to have unusually soft features, and the baby’s skeleton shows an unnatural head and face structure.
This forced us to analyze the image using AI detection tools such as Hive Moderation and WasItAI, which confirmed that the image was AI-generated.
We also checked original images captured at the excavation site by Kumanan Kana and Prabhakaran Dilaxanan, two journalists based in the North who have been consistently covering the excavation and sharing updates on their social media platforms. We found an image showing the skeletal remains of a baby or small child located near an adult skeleton during the initial pit tests of the excavation. Both journalists posted this image on the final day of the pit tests, June 7, 2025.
The same image was also featured in a news report published by the Tamil Guardian on June 8, 2025. Additionally, a documentary by Al Jazeera English, published on YouTube on July 2, 2025, shows the exact same skeletal remains in video footage.
A viral image claiming to show the skeletal remains of a mother holding her baby discovered during the 2025 Chemmani mass grave excavation, is false and AI-generated. While skeletal remains of a small child was reportedly found near an adult skeleton during the initial pit tests of the excavation, the identities of the remains have not been confirmed.
Our Sources
HIVE Moderation: AI Image Detector
Wasitai: AI Image Detector
News report in Tamil Gaudian, published on July 4, 2025.
News report in Daily Mirror, published on July 2, 2025.
News report in News Cut, published on June 30, 2025.
News report in Newswire, published on July 2, 2025.
News report in Daily Mirror, published on June 30, 2025.
YouTube documentary video by Aljazeera English, posted on July 2, 2025.
YouTube news video by News 1st Tamil, posted on June 7, 2025.
News report in Tamil Gaudian, published on June 8, 2025.
Facebook post by journalist Kumanan Kana, featuring original images taken at the Chemmani excavation site, posted on June 7, 2025.
Facebook post by journalist Prabhakaran Dilaxanan, featuring original images taken at the Chemmani excavation site, posted on June 7, 2025.
Altered media
