Wrote: Fatbardh Dema
A video posted on TikTok on Friday (January 30) claims the death of a 13-year-old girl who was allegedly raped by a 55-year-old man.
The claim was published by the account "NewsEDites". "Mainly traumatic injuries which are fatal and may not have a chance of survival. There were injuries to the chest region including internal organs", says a person in the published video.
"13-Year-Old Girl Who Was Raped by 55-Year-Old Man Dies", is the video caption.
From its publication until the moment of its treatment by hibrid.info, the video has received more than 90 thousand views, more than 630 reactions and 35 comments, among which there are comments that have taken the claim as true.
The truth?
After fact-checking by hibrid.info, it turns out that the video is old and has no connection to the TikTok claim. In the video, as quoted by the media, the acting director of the Main Center for Family Medicine in Dragash spoke about a case that occurred in October 2025, when a minor lost her life as a result of a gas cylinder explosion.
Suspected rape case:
On Friday (January 30), Kosovo Police announced that on January 29, they arrested a person in Istog on suspicion of committing the criminal offense of rape.
Police report:
Meanwhile, later, the Basic Prosecution Office in Peja confirmed that the suspect was caught red-handed and that he was ordered to be detained for 48 hours, under suspicion of the criminal offense of "rape" (see here).
On Saturday (January 31), the Basic Court in Peja announced that a one-month detention order has been issued against the defendant.
"The measure of detention was ordered due to the well-founded suspicion that the defendant TP committed the criminal offense of "Rape", under Article 227, paragraph 7, in connection with paragraph 1, as well as in connection with Article 77 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Kosovo, while the detention was ordered based on the legal conditions provided for by the Criminal Procedure Code of the Republic of Kosovo", It is stated in the announcement of the Basic Court in Peja (see here).
This paragraph of Article 227 of the Criminal Code of Kosovo specifies that it concerns cases where the offence is suspected of having been committed against a person under the age of 14. It states that if found guilty, the perpetrator shall be sentenced to imprisonment for at least 10 years (see here).
So, since the beginning of reporting on the case, none of the three institutions - the Police, the Prosecution, and the Court - have reported that the victim has lost his life.
Hibrid.info also searched Google for the words that are claimed to be on TikTok. The findings did not result in any credible reporting (see here).
The real case in the clipped video on TikTok:
The video published on TikTok also features the logo of the media outlet “KlanKosova”. After verifying the footage, hibrid.info found that the video was taken from a report from October 10, 2025 by several media outlets in Kosovo. The person heard in the TikTok video was quoted by the media as the acting director of the Main Center for Family Medicine in Dragash, Endrit Piraj, speaking about the death of a 13-year-old girl as a result of a gas cylinder explosion (see here and here)
Analyze:
The claim that the 13-year-old girl who was reported to have been raped by a man on January 30th has died is false.
On TikTok, this claim was made through manipulation by publishing a video of an old case, when a minor lost her life as a result of a gas cylinder explosion.
No official institution has confirmed the death of the victim in the latest rape case in Istog.
Based on its work methodology, hibrid.info assesses this content as "Fake News" and "Manipulation of Facts".
Reasoning:
The “Fake News” rating is given to informational content that is entirely fabricated or that contains factually incorrect claims or information. Content that is rated as fake news can be defined as having been created and distributed with the intent to misinform the public, i.e., to present a claim that is completely false as fact.
“Factual manipulation” is a rating given to informational content that uses facts known to be accurate but interprets them in a distorted manner. These reports typically use accurate information to draw incorrect conclusions or claims, thereby misleading consumers of media content about the actual meaning of the facts presented.