Sri Lanka Police have issued a clarification regarding a viral social media video claiming an eight-year-old child set fire to a car at a school, stating that investigations have not found evidence to support the allegation.
In a statement, Police said the incident involved a vehicle worth around Rs. 14 million that caught fire within the premises of a school in Kurunegala on July 3.
Following a complaint alleging that the eight-year-old child was responsible for the fire, Kurunegala Police launched an investigation.
Police confirmed that the child seen in the viral video is an eight-year-old student of the same school who was walking near the vehicle at the time of the incident.
However, Police stressed that no eyewitness testimony or forensic evidence has so far established that the child set the vehicle on fire.
The matter has been reported to court, while investigations are continuing. The Government Analyst has also been tasked with determining the cause of the fire through expert examination. (Newswire)