District collector that she never was: Rani Soyamoyi's character is work of fiction

The post claims to narrate the biography of the Collector and carries details from a conversation Rani had with a college student about her life.

"Malappuram District Collector Mrs. Rani Soyamoi interacts with college students……The children then asked the collector some questions. Q: What's your name? My name is Rani. Soyamoi is my family name. I am a native of Jharkhand……I was born in a small hut in a tribal area in the Koderma district, full of `mica' mines. My father and mother were miners. I had two brothers upstairs and a sister downstairs. We lived in a small hut that leaked when it rained……When I was four years old, my father, mother, and two brothers were bedridden with various ailments….When I was five, my brothers-in-law died of an illness…..One day when I was hungry, my father grabbed my skin and bones and dragged me to a large mine covered with corrugated iron sheets…It was a mica mine that had gained notoriety over time……I have to remember that I was only six years old. Eventually, I reached the Government Agati Mandir. There I was educated. I first learned the alphabet from my village. Finally here is the collector in front of you (sic)" reads a portion of the biography.

Several biography websites picked up this story and published it as a personal history of Rani Soyamoyi. The websites have included the same details such as her parents working in the mica mines, Rani working at the age of 5, her family losing their lives, and Rani joining an orphanage. (Click here to view)

https://dailynewscatcher.com/rani-soyamoyi-ias/

https://mymorningtea.in/rani-soyamoyi-ias/

https://pressinformant.com/rani-soyamoyi-ias-story-husband-biography-wiki-age-family-parents-education-net-worth/

FACT CHECK:

NewsMeter searched for details on Malappuram District Collector's but could not ascertain whether there was a Collector by the name of Rani Soyamoyi that served the district. No record of this officer was found.

While searching for more details, NewsMeter found an article published in the Times of India's Readers' Forum that narrated the same story as in the viral post. It is clear that this story has been circulating since 2020. The comments indicated that the story is fictional and that Rani Soyamoyi is a fictional character in a Malayalam short story collection written by Hakim Moray.

Newsmeter searched for this book and found the same story in the short story collection Three Women. The story is titled "Shining Faces" and is written by Hakeem Morayur. Morayur is a native of Malappuram. Rani Soyamoyi is a fictional character in his book. Hakeem Morayur took to Facebook to clarify that the claim of Rani Soyamoyi being a real district collector is fake.

He wrote: " It has come to my knowledge that many people have taken the story of shining faces from my collection of stories called Three Women and spread it widely in their own way with pictures of some women….This is just a story written by me…Many people think that my heroine named Rani Soyamoyi is a real collector. Please be informed that I am not responsible for any issue that may arise in this matter…Really sad to see the story of a book I wrote and published in my name being abused like this."

Moreover, the picture used in the viral Facebook post is of IAS officer Shynamol. She posted the same picture on her Facebook page.

Evidently, the story of Rani Soyamoyi's journey from mica mines to District Collector is fictional.