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Ragging is a raw nerve in Sri Lanka, and every new university intake season revives the fear of it. So, when a video surfaced this week claiming that ragging had returned to the University of Peradeniya, showing a group of shirtless young men with crude markings drawn on their bodies, it spread quickly and alarmed students and parents alike. Here are the posts that carried the claim.
Social Media Posts:
In the clip being shared with claims that ragging has resumed at the University of Peradeniya, several shirtless men can be seen raising their hands while engaged in some activity, with drawings of genitalia and other markings on their bare upper bodies. Below are few other instances of the same footage.
The same video was also circulating on YouTube, as shown below.
Fact Check:
Previous ragging incidents at various Sri Lankan universities have been reported by mainstream media. If the video now circulating as a recent ragging incident at the University of Peradeniya genuinely depicted a recent event there, mainstream outlets would have reported it too. Yet we could not find any mainstream outlet or credible official source reporting this video or any recent ragging incident at the University of Peradeniya.
Footage Comes From a 2025 Anti-Ragging Awareness Campaign
Our reverse image search found that part of the viral video segment, shown as evidence of ragging resuming at the University of Peradeniya, had already been circulating a year earlier, in July 2025. The footage was in fact part of a video created in 2025 for a public awareness campaign aimed at preventing ragging within universities.
The clip used a year earlier in the awareness video, is shown below.
The University of Peradeniya Denied the Incident
We contacted the Chief Public Relations Officer of the University of Peradeniya, who confirmed that the circulating video is entirely false. He said the Vice-Chancellor had convened a media briefing and issued a press release on the same day, September 7, 2026, clarifying that the video is completely untrue and appears to be a deliberate attempt to tarnish the university’s reputation.
He added that the incident did not occur at the University of Peradeniya, that similar attempts targeting the institution had recently been observed, and that these actions were believed to be a coordinated effort timed to coincide with the period when large numbers of students are entering university.
The Chief Public Relations Officer also provided us with the press release issued by the University of Peradeniya on the matter.
The statement said the video now circulating on social media, claiming to depict a ragging incident at the University of Peradeniya, is entirely baseless, and that the university firmly maintains no such incident took place on its premises. The university strongly rejected the content and implications of the misleading social media report and urged both the public and the media to verify the authenticity of such content before sharing or promoting it.
The statement also affirmed the university’s continuing commitment to providing all students with a safe, peaceful, supportive, and conducive learning environment, free from ragging, intimidation, harassment, and all forms of abuse.
The Students’ Union Confirmed the Video Is Fake
We also contacted the Students’ Union (Maha Shishya Sangamaya) of the University of Peradeniya, which likewise confirmed that the video circulating on social media is entirely false. They said the footage was not filmed anywhere within the University of Peradeniya and that the incident it depicts did not occur there, confirming that it had been misleadingly presented on social media as a recent event at the university.
Peradeniya Students Said No Such Incident Occurred
We also spoke to current students at the University of Peradeniya, who similarly confirmed that the circulating video is not connected to any ragging incident at the university. They added that ragging incidents of the kind shown in the video do not take place at the University of Peradeniya.
Journalists in Peradeniya and Kandy Confirmed It Was False
We also contacted journalists based in Peradeniya and Kandy, who likewise confirmed that this video, circulating as a ragging incident at the University of Peradeniya, is false. They said no such recent ragging incident had been reported at the university.
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Conclusion:
Our fact-check found that the video being shared as a recent ragging incident at the University of Peradeniya is misleading. The University of Peradeniya confirmed that the footage is unrelated to any incident on its premises and that no such ragging incident had occurred there. The same video was also found on social media a year earlier, in July 2025, confirming that it is not recent footage.
The recent claims of ragging at the university premises were also rejected by the University of Peradeniya’s Chief Public Relations Officer and Vice-Chancellor, its Students’ Union, current students, and journalists in Peradeniya and Kandy.
Title: Ragging Footage Is Old & Unrelated To The Peradeniya University
Fact Check By: BP Hansani
Result: False
