On the 15th, Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) MP S. M. Marikar, during his parliamentary speech, displayed a photograph, claiming it depicted a Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) member stripping and assaulting a person. Subsequently, social media posts began circulating, suggesting that the person in the photo was JVP General Secretary Tilvin Silva.

FactSeeker investigated the claim, as it had resurfaced multiple times online. A Google Reverse Image Search revealed that the photo was taken during the Black July riots of 1983. Furthermore, FactSeeker found that Fact Crescendo, a Sri Lankan fact-checking website, had already addressed the image. Their article confirmed that the photo was first published in the Rawaya newspaper in 1997 and clarified that the individuals in the image were not affiliated with the JVP.

Thus, FactSeeker confirms that the photograph displayed by MP S. M. Marikar in Parliament is indeed related to the Black July 1983 riots, and the person in the photo is not JVP General Secretary Tilvin Silva.