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| - Fact Check: NOT Indian godman Guruji, this is a Sri Lankan Buddhist monk caught in alleged sex scandal
India Today found that the person seen in the viral video is a Buddhist monk Pallegama Sumana Thero from Sri Lanka.
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India Today Fact Check
The person seen in this video is not Guruji but a Buddhist monk from Sri Lanka. The Indian spiritual leader died in 2007.
A video of a man caught in a compromising position with two women has been widely shared on social media. The video shows a half-naked man and two almost-naked women being interrogated by people on camera.
Those recording the video could be seen misbehaving with the women.
Those sharing the video alleged that the man in the video was Nirmal Singh Ji, also known as “Guruji”, an Indian spiritual leader who died in 2007. The archived version of one such allegation can be seen here.
India Today’s investigation found that the person in the viral video is Pallegama Sumana Thero, a Buddhist monk from Sri Lanka.
WHO IS IN THE VIRAL VIDEO?
Reverse searching keyframes from the viral video led us to a number of Facebook posts in the Sinhala language, the official language of Sri Lanka. This hinted that the video could be from or related to Sri Lanka.
A keyword search led us to a report from July 8 published in Asian Mirror, a digital news platform based in Colombo, Sri Lanka.
Per this report, this video is from the Bomiriya Rassapana area of Navagamuwa in Sri Lanka.
Per the report, four people were arrested on charges of assaulting a monk named Pallegama Sumana Thero and the two women.
The suspects were reportedly arrested after the incident but they were subsequently released as Sumana Thero withdrew his complaint.
The report added that the suspects claimed that they visited the house after receiving information that Sumana Thero was engaging in inappropriate behaviour with the two women.
Several Sri Lankan news outlets like the Newswire and the Sri Lanka Mirror reported this incident. Several Sinhala language news websites also published reports about this.
India Today contacted Sandun Arosha, the head of the Counter Disinformation Unit at the President's office in Sri Lanka to further verify this. He too confirmed that the incident seen in the viral video indeed happened in Sri Lanka’s Nawagamuva neighbourhood recently.
This proved that the man in the video could not have been Nirmal Singh Ji, who died in 2007.
India Today's correspondent Amardeep Kumar visited Guruji’s ashram, also known as “Bada Mandir”, in Chattarpur, Delhi.
He spoke to Aniket Mehendiratta, a member of the ashram’s management committee, who said: "This video has nothing to do with Guruji. It seems like some people are trying to hurt the religious sentiments of his followers. The legal team of the ashram will take action against the people who are spreading this rumour."
Thus, it’s clear that a video from Sri Lanka is being shared with baseless claims about an Indian spiritual leader.
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You can also send us an email at factcheck@intoday.com
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