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When grief is weaponized for political scoring, fact-checkers have a responsibility to name it clearly. Following the sudden death of Nivin Kumarapperuma, son of President’s Counsel and NPP Matara District parliamentary candidate Upul Kumarapperuma, a wave of condolences came from across the political spectrum. Among those who paid their final respects was former President Mahinda Rajapaksa. Shortly after, posts appeared on social media falsely claiming that Kumarapperuma himself had spoken about this visit in a pointed political way. The posts are fabricated. Below is our fact-check.
Social Media Posts :
Posts circulated on social media claiming that Attorney Upul Kumarapperuma had stated that, while his late son had always said that former President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s death would be an occasion to be celebrated, ironically, Mahinda Rajapaksa ultimately came to pay his respects to the son who held that view.
Another post linking Mahinda Rajapaksa’s visit to these claims circulated as follows:
We investigated these claims.
Fact-Check :
On 12 June 2026, Nivin Kumarapperuma, son of Senior Attorney and NPP Matara District parliamentary candidate Upul Kumarapperuma, passed away at Kalubowila Hospital following a sudden illness. He was 25 years old. Nivin had completed his primary and secondary education at Royal College, Colombo, and his higher education in Canada before returning to Sri Lanka.
Leaders and figures from across the political spectrum extended condolences and paid their final respects. Former President Mahinda Rajapaksa was among those who attended. This was reported by mainstream media, as seen here.
Despite posts circulating claiming that Kumarapperuma made political statements about Mahinda Rajapaksa’s visit, no video footage, press statement, or recorded account of any such statement by Kumarapperuma exists anywhere.
Attorney Upul Kumarapperuma
We contacted Kumarapperuma directly. He stated that he had never heard his son speak about political figures in this manner at any time. He also emphasized that he was in no condition to be making political statements during this period and described the circulating posts as maliciously fabricated falsehoods.
The Facebook Pages Cited in the Posts Did Not Publish These Claims
The Facebook pages whose names and templates appeared in the viral posts confirmed they did not publish any such content. Their administrators stated that their page templates had been misused to create fabricated posts, and that they had no connection to the claims.
The final rites for Nivin Kumarapperuma were held on 15 June 2026 at 6.00 p.m. at the Beddagana Public Cemetery. According to forensic medical reports, his cause of death was Deep Vein Thrombosis (DVT).Facebook
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Conclusion :
Our investigation confirms that the social media posts attributing political statements about former President Mahinda Rajapaksa to Attorney Upul Kumarapperuma, following the death of his son Nivin, are false. Kumarapperuma personally stated that no such statements were made and described the posts as maliciously fabricated.
The Facebook pages whose templates were used to create the posts confirmed they never published this content. No video, press statement, or credible record of any such remarks by Kumarapperuma exists. The posts exploited a family’s grief to spread political misinformation.
Title: No, Upul Kumarapperuma Did Not Make Political Statements About Mahinda Rajapaksa After His Son’s Death; The Posts Are Fabricated
Fact Check By: Pavithra Sandamali
Result: False
