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The widely circulated video shows a child carrying a dark-coloured cat while a porcupine follows closely behind along a narrow path cutting through a paddy field. The footage was shared in multiple Facebook posts with captions claiming that it depicted a rural scene in Bangladesh.
The misleading claim also appeared in a social media post published by the Indian newspaper The Telegraph. Both the caption and the on-screen text described the child as being from Bangladesh, and the post included the hashtag "Bangladesh," further reinforcing the false narrative.
To verify the authenticity of the claim, Stream conducted a reverse image search using key frames extracted from the viral video. The search led investigators to a social media post written in Sinhala, one of Sri Lanka's official languages. The caption read, "ගමක අසිරිය සංහිදියාව හා සුන්දර ලමාවිය," which translates into English as, "The beauty of the village, harmony and a beautiful childhood."
Further investigation traced the earliest known upload of the footage to a Facebook account operated under the name Prabath Silva. The video was originally posted on 11 June with the Sinhala caption, "අක්කා එක්ක කුබුරු යන ඉත්තෑ මල්ලි," meaning, "Little porcupine brother going to the paddy field with his elder sister."
The same Facebook account contains several additional videos featuring the same child and the porcupine. One video, uploaded on 14 June, shows the porcupine being bottle-fed, while another, posted on 20 June, captures the child interacting closely with the animal. Every related post on the account carries captions written in Sinhala.
Additional evidence supporting the video's origin was found in the profile information of the Facebook account, which identifies Polonnaruwa, a district in Sri Lanka's North Central Province, as its location. This information further confirms that the viral footage was filmed in Sri Lanka and not in Bangladesh.
Stream also contacted Prabath Silva through Facebook to seek clarification regarding the context of the video. However, no response had been received at the time the fact-check was published.
The investigation highlights how misleading claims attached to viral social media content can rapidly spread false narratives across platforms. The findings conclusively establish that the widely shared video originated in Sri Lanka, contradicting claims that it depicted a rural scene in Bangladesh.
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