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Facebook pages often spread false information on social media to gain more exposure, particularly by posting content related to sensitive issues. This is an investigation we did regarding such a video posted on social media involving the infant who was recently abandoned in a field.
Social Media Posts :
A social media video was posted with the caption, “Gems can be found in paddy fields too”, implying that the video is about the baby who was recently abandoned in a paddy field.
Another video was posted on Facebook regarding it.
The responses to these posts suggest that many people have assumed the video frames are related to the incident.
Here’s how we did a fact check on it.
Fact Check :
On July 17th, a two-day-old baby was abandoned under a tree in a field in the Paragahadeniya area of Mawathagama. Residents have seen this and have reported it to the Mawathagama police, who later admitted the baby to the premature unit of the Kurunegala Teaching Hospital.
However, the only time a video of this baby was released to the mainstream media and was shared through social media was when the child was being taken to the Kurunegala Hospital by a policewoman. You can view more information here.
Since no further videos or photos of this child had been reported through mainstream media, we conducted a Reverse Image search.
First Video
Accordingly, it was found that the first video was posted on Instagram by a user named ihaan_aizel on April 26th, which is before the incident.
Furthermore, the Instagram account holder, who must be the father of the baby shown in this video, has also uploaded several photos and videos of the child. Upon examining them, it is clear that the baby is now over six months old. It is also apparent that the account holder is not a resident in the country
Second Video
It was discovered that the second video is a video posted on the YouTube channel borncutebabies on July 15th. The baby who was abandoned was found in the field on the 17th and was admitted to the hospital the same day. Accordingly, this video was published before the baby was found.
Mawathagama Police
When we inquired about this incident at the Mawathagama Police Station, they stated that the mother of the baby has not yet been identified. They mentioned that the investigations are being conducted through CCTV footage in the area to determine who abandoned this baby, and the baby is undergoing relevant tests at the Kurunegala Hospital
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Conclusion :
Our investigation shows that the child in the social media videos purported to be scenes of the baby who was abandoned in the Paragahadeniya area of Mawathagama is misleading and are not videos of the same baby. The above two videos were posted and circulated on social media, implying that those video frames are of the abandoned child.
Title:Videos of the baby who was abandoned in a paddy field in Mawathagama!
Fact Check By: Fact Crescendo TeamResult: Misleading
