Fact Check: No arrest yet in case of lewd comment on Captain Anshuman Singh’s widow; viral claim is false

Hyderabad: In July 2023, an electrical short circuit ignited a fire in an Indian Army ammunition dump at Siachen in the eastern Karakoram range in the Himalayan mountains.

Captain Anshuman Singh bravely rescued fellow soldiers trapped in a fibreglass hut. As the fire spread to a medical shelter, he attempted to recover life-saving medicines but sustained severe burns and later succumbed to his injuries.

The Kirti Chakra, India’s second-highest peacetime gallantry award, was posthumously conferred to Captain Anshuman Singh. His widow, Smriti Singh, received the honour on his behalf and images and videos of the news went viral.

However, the occasion was marred by a derogatory comment on a photo of Smriti Singh at the Rashtrapati Bhavan, where she received the award for her husband. It has ignited outrage on social media, with users demanding identification and action against the individual behind the comment.

Against this backdrop, an image of a person arrested by the police, along with a screenshot of the lewd comment on Smriti’s image, is circulating on social media. The accompanying claim suggests that the person who made the derogatory comment has been apprehended.

“On the wife of the martyred captain. Madrasa graduate jihadi Mohammad Ahmed Katua was arrested for making obscene comments, (translated from Hindi)” wrote an X user while sharing the image and the screenshot. (Archive)

Fact Check

NewsMeter found that the claim is false. The person in the photo was arrested by the Delhi Police on charges of snatching.

A reverse image search revealed that the photo of the arrested individual, standing alongside two police officers, was posted on X by the official handle of DCP Central Delhi on July 6. The caption identified the individual as Mohd Kasim, a proclaimed offender, who had been evading trial. He was apprehended by the Hauz Qazi police station team in a snatching case. The handle also mentioned that the arrest was made based on local intelligence and surveillance. (Archive)

What action has been taken against the person who made the comment on Smriti?

According to a July 10 report by NDTV, the National Commission for Women (NCW) has taken cognisance of the comment and written a letter to the Delhi Police, demanding immediate and appropriate action against the individual.

The commission identified the offender as Ahmad K, a resident of Delhi, and termed his comment as lewd. The NCW stated that the comment contravenes Section 79 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023, and Section 67 of the Information Technology Act, 2000.

“NCW condemns this behaviour and urges immediate police action,” the women's panel wrote on X sharing the letter. No arrest has been made in the case so far.

Hence, we conclude that the viral image does not show the arrest of the person who made the lewd comment on Mrs Singh’s photo. The claim is false.