Fact Check: Video of influencer falsely attributed to Smriti Singh, wife of late Captain Anshuman Singh
A video claiming Smriti is enjoying on Instagram, amid allegations by Captain Anshuman Singh’s parents that she took the gallantry award, has gone viral.
By Sibahathulla Sakib Published on 18 July 2024 12:01 PM GMT
Claim: The video shows Smriti Singh, the wife of the late Captain Anshuman Singh, modelling on Instagram.
Fact: The claim is false. The woman in the video is social media influencer Reshma Sebastian.
Hyderabad: Late Captain Anshuman Singh tragically lost his life in a fire accident at an Indian Army ammunition dump in Siachen. For his extraordinary bravery, he was posthumously awarded the Kirti Chakra on July 5 of this year, which was received by his wife, Smriti Singh, and his mother.
However, controversy arose when a viral video shows Smriti enjoying on Instagram amid allegations from Captain Anshuman Singh’s parents that she took the gallantry award. along with his photo album, clothes and other memorabilia to her home in Punjab’s Gurdaspur.
In this context, a video has gone viral with the claim that it shows Smriti Singh playfully modelling on Instagram.
A Facebook user shared the video with the caption: “A mother sacrificed her son for the country. And the wife of the martyred soldier is spreading beauty on Instagram with one crore and Kirti Chakra. (translated from Hindi)”
The 17-second video and the claim were also uploaded on YouTube titled ‘Martyr’s Wife’ (translated from Hindi).
Fact Check
NewsMeter found that the claim is false. The person in the video is not Smriti Singh.
The reverse image search of a screenshot from the video led us to the same video posted on an Instagram account on April 24, 2024, with over 361,000 followers.
According to the bio, the Instagram account belonged to Reshma Sebastian. A YouTube link in the bio took us to a TEDx speech given by Reshma Sebastian. The video was titled ‘Women and financial freedom | Reshma Sebastian | TEDxStTeresasCollege’.
According to the caption, Reshma Sebastian is ‘an engineer turned model, a mom and an influencer.’ Here is a comparison of Smriti Singh and Reshma Sebastian.
In a series of posts, Reshma addressed how she is being falsely linked to Smriti Singh. “This is not Smriti Singh’s page/ig account,” she wrote in a post.
In another post, she gave a detailed explanation about herself, her family and her interests and asked people to follow her only ‘for the right reasons’.
In an Instagram story, she also said that she has filed for defamation on the fake news being spread about her and Smriti Singh.
Hence the claim that the viral video shows Smriti Singh, the wife of the late Captain Anshuman Singh, is false. The person in the video is social media influencer Reshma Sebastian.
