Fact check: Viral video of woman torturing child is from Central America

Trigger Warning: Descriptions of abuse

A video circulating on social media has gained widespread attention. It lasts for approximately 3 minutes and 20 seconds and shows a child being tortured by a woman.

The footage shows the woman wearing high heels deliberately stamping on the child, causing immense pain as the child cries out in agony. The woman also repeatedly slaps the child and inflicts burns on their cheeks using a lit cigarette. Disturbingly, the woman also engages in further abusive behaviour by urinating on the child while continuously slapping it. Alt News is only providing stills from the video due to its graphic nature.

We have received numerous requests via our official app and WhatsApp tipline (+91 7600011160), urging us to authenticate the aforementioned video. One user has speculated that the video originates from the North Eastern state of Manipur.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Fact Check

We performed a reverse image search using Google Lens on one of the stills from the viral video. This led us to a tweet shared by a Mexican news outlet on May 19, 2023, featuring the same video. Furthermore, we came across a news report published on May 12, 2023, which disclosed that the woman depicted in the video is the mother of the child, and the incident took place in Central America. The report stated that the woman had been apprehended, and according to her partner, she had been suffering from severe substance abuse issues.

After conducting a Google search for the name “Uwaldrina Siles,” we came across an article by a news outlet named “Euro.eseuro” that covered the incident in question. According to their report, the woman featured in the viral video is originally from Costa Rica and was apprehended by the authorities in Nicaragua after the video’s wide circulation.

The aforementioned report references another publication that indicates the woman is a mother of two children and allegedly involved with a partner who struggles with substance abuse. Additionally, there are suggestions of potential connections between the woman and a ‘criminal network’.

Hence, based on the gathered information, it can be concluded that the viral video depicting the torture of a child does not originate from India. It is from Central America. Furthermore, the accused woman has been nabbed and is under the custody of the authorities. As part of their ongoing investigation, the authorities are actively exploring the possibility of her connection to a criminal network.