Fact Check: AI-Altered Video Falsely Shows Placard Blaming Harka Sampang at Ganesh Nepali Death Protest

Kathmandu. A video circulating widely on social media claims to show protesters demonstrating over the death of Ganesh Nepali, with a young woman holding a placard that reads, "Ganesh Nepali's murderer is Harke Sampai."

However, an investigation by the TechPana Fact-Check Desk found the claim to be false. The text on the placard was digitally altered using artificial intelligence (AI). The original placard carried during the protest read, "Ganesh Nepali's murderer is Balen Sarkar." AI was used to replace the original text with "Harke Sampai," resulting in the spread of misinformation.

Claim

A Facebook user named 'Joon Rae' shared a 12-second video showing a young woman holding a pink placard during a protest. The placard in the viral video reads, "Ganesh Nepali's murderer is Harke Sampai," while other demonstrators carrying green and red flags can be seen in the background.

By the time this fact check was prepared, the video had been viewed more than 1.2 million times, received over 32,500 reactions, more than 5,500 comments, and had been shared over 1,400 times. Watch the video, the recorded video, and the screenshot.

Investigation

The same video was also widely circulated by other social media users.

Facebook user 'Sayukhang Rai' shared the video with an angry caption questioning why Harka Sampang was being blamed. Watch the video and the screenshot.

Similarly, on the morning of July 14 at 6:49 a.m., a Facebook account named 'Mul Bato' shared an image showing the same placard with the caption:

"Ganesh Nepali's killer is Harka Sampang????" See the post and screenshot.

On the night of July 13, 2026, at 10:57 p.m., Facebook user 'Santosh Saud' also shared the video, questioning the motives of the protesters.

In his post, he wrote that while protesters had previously blamed Prime Minister Balen Shah, Home Minister Sudhan Gurung, and the municipal police for Ganesh Nepali's death, they now appeared to be accusing Harka Sampang, raising doubts about the real objective of the protest. See the post and screenshot.

The TechPana Fact-Check Desk observed that the name displayed on the viral placard appeared as "Harke Sampai," rather than the correct spelling of Harka Sampang, raising suspicion that the text had been manipulated using AI.

To verify this, the viral video was analyzed using the AI detection platform Hive Moderation.

The analysis indicated a 99.9 percent probability that the visual content had been generated or manipulated using AI. However, the tool found no evidence that the audio had been generated using AI.

The video was then examined using Google's Verify AI tool to detect embedded SynthID markers.

The analysis confirmed that the visual portion of the video had been created or modified using Google's AI technology, while no indication of AI-generated audio was detected.

After establishing that AI had been used to manipulate the visuals, the TechPana Fact-Check Desk extracted keyframes from the viral video and conducted a Google Reverse Image Search.

The search led to a photo feature published by Desh Sanchar titled "Maitighar Protest Saying 'Ganesh Nepali's Killer Balen Sarkar' (Photos)."

The photo feature, published on July 11 under the byline of Barsha Shah, contains photographs from the same protest, including the identical young woman seen in the viral video. In the original photograph, the placard clearly reads, "Ganesh Nepali's killer is Balen Sarkar."

There is no reference to Harka Sampang in the original image. See the news and screenshot.

Claim

A young woman protesting over the death of Ganesh Nepali was carrying a placard stating that Harka Sampang was responsible for his death.

Claimants

The misleading claim was circulated by Facebook users 'Joon Rae', 'Sayukhang Rai', 'Mul Bato', 'Santosh Saud', and several other social media users.

Facts

Technical analysis confirmed that the visual content of the viral video had been manipulated using Google's AI tools, while the audio remained authentic.

The text on the placard was digitally altered from "Ganesh Nepali's killer is Balen Sarkar" to "Ganesh Nepali's killer is Harke Sampai," a misspelled version of Harka Sampang.

The original image, published by Desh Sanchar on July 11, clearly shows the same protester holding a placard blaming Balen Sarkar, not Harka Sampang.

Conclusion

The claim is false. The viral video does not show a protester accusing Harka Sampang of Ganesh Nepali's death. The original placard blamed "Balen Sarkar," but the text was altered using AI to display "Harke Sampai," creating and spreading misinformation on social media.

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