"They are cancer patients. Even with their heads shaved and death staring them in the face, they continue to smile. I hope you all recover soon," reads Sinhala-language text under an image of four bald women shared in a Facebook group with 11,000 users on October 28, 2023.
A caption reads: "May all those suffering from cancer, including my mother, experience a speedy recovery. May Buddha's blessings be with you all."
The same image was shared alongside similar false claims elsewhere on Facebook, including here and here.
But the women in the photo did not shave their heads because of cancer.
A reverse image search for the image on Baidu found that one of the women is a Chinese actress named Wang Miaoshan (archived link).
Subsequent keyword searches on social media platform Weibo found the photo shared in a post promoting a short-video programme called "Bald Shan's Perfect Alliance".
The official Weibo account of the programme is tagged in the post, and AFP found it uploaded the original photo on August 12, 2016.
The post is only available on the Weibo mobile app. The below image and QR code were generated...
A radiation oncologist has lost his long-running legal battle accusing his former employer of violating the False Claims Act. Robert C. O’Laughlin, MD, and his attorneys first took Radiation Thera...