With Sri Lanka facing one of its worst economic and political crises, an image has gone viral on social media platforms showing a man with a blackened face. The image is being widely shared with a claim that he is Sri Lanka’s Chief Justice who was attacked after making an ‘unconstitutional’ decision.
A Facebook user shared the image with a caption in Urdu that roughly translates to, “When the Chief Justice of Sri Lanka gave an unconstitutional decision, people caught the Chief Justice within twelve hours, first washed him, then blackened his face and made him roamed the whole city.”
(Original: سری لنکا کے چیف جسٹس نے غیر آئینی فیصلہ دیا تو عوام نے بارہ گھنٹوں کے اندر چیف جسٹس کو پکڑ کر پہلے دھلائی کی پھر منہ کالا کرکے سارا شہر گھمایا)
FACT CHECK
NewsMobile fact-checked the viral image and found it to be shared with a false claim.
On performing Reverse Image Search, we found the same image in a Times Of India article published on October 13, 2015.
“Shiv Sena likens Sudheendra Kulkarni to Ajmal Kasab; Uddhav felicitates paint attackers,” reads the headline of the article.
According to some other articles, back in October 2015, some Shiv Sena workers smeared ORF chairman Sudheendra Kulkarni‘s face with black paint to protest former Pakistan Foreign Minister Khurshid Mahmood Kasuri’s book launch in Mumbai.
More details about the incident can be found in the following India TV news report on the incident.
Hence, with the above information, it can be concluded that the viral claim is false.
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