Fact Check: Viral video of ‘monk’ with two women is from Sri Lanka

A video of a Sri Lankan monk, found in a compromising position with two women, is being shared on social media with the false claim that it is the act of a Hindu priest from India.

The disinformation was shared on social media by a Twitter user (@shajath67) on July 27, 2023. The archive of the tweet can be accessed here. He wrote, “The Hindu priest sorry, prostitute, who divide India by religion…”

The misleading tweet was accompanied by a video of a raid wherein a monk and two women were apprehended by a mob in a compromising position. According to the Twitter bio of ‘shajath67’, he identifies as a worker of the Dravida Munnetra Kazagham (DMK) party.

On Sunday (July 30), the same video was posted by another Twitter account named ‘Rofl Swara 2.0’ with the caption, “The saint is practising the creation of Hindu Rashtra. “

The same video was retweeted by one Mirza Baig, who wrote, “This Islamophobic Hindu priest was caught with a mother and her daughter. Kya ghilazat hai ye tanatanis.”

What is the Truth

As per a report by Asian Mirror, the incident took place earlier in July in Rassapana in the Western province of Sri Lanka. The man in the video is identified as a prominent Buddhist monk named Pallegama Sumana Thero.

Thero was found in a compromising position with a mother-daughter duo. They were assaulted by a mob of young men. The monk, who serves the Sumanaramaya Temple, later filed a complaint against the men for physical assault and destroying his property.

The video of the incident went viral on social media. Following a directive by Public Security Minister Tiran Alles, the police arrested four men but later released them on bail. Thero later withdrew his police complaint. 

As such, it becomes clear that the contentious video is neither from India nor features a Hindu saint.