A photo of a young nurse is being shared in the name of Komal Mishra with the claim that she died from a coronavirus while conducting her duty in a Pune hospital. It is also being claimed that she hailed from Yavatmal district of Maharashtra.
Upon the investigation, Fact Crescendo found this claim as false.
Many people have been sharing the photo of this so-called nurse Komal Mishra with the message that reads: Komal Mishra, Yavatmal Maharashtra, Working As A Nurse In Hospital In Pune, Today Lost Her Life To Coronavirus . Performing Her Duties got Infected To Corona Virus And Today Morning At 5.30am Breathed Her Last. We Lost Another Warrior.
The same photo and claim was shared on Facebook as well.
FACT-CHECK
When we began our search, we noticed that the same photo and claim has been going viral in several languages. Marathi posts about this photo claimed that the girl Komal Mishra was working at Naidu Hospital in Pune and she was from Jodmoha village in Yavatmal district of Maharashtra.
At first, we contacted Naidu Hospital to check whether any nurse by the name of Komal Mishra died due to coronavirus. We spoke to Sanjeev Wavare, assistant health officer at Pune Municipal Corporation, who is responsible for Naidu Hospital. He told us that, there is no Komal Mishra working in Naidu Hospital. The viral message about her death in the Naidu Hospital is false.
It is true that a nurse (age 23) in Naidu Hospital is diagnosed with coronavirus on Monday. But she is alive and is getting treatment in the hospital.
Then we contacted Dyaneshwar Dahare, sarpanch of Jodmoha village in Yavatmal district. He informed us that he had checked every household in the village after seeing the viral message. There is no family by the surname Mishra in the village. We could not find any girl named Komal Mishra in the village, let alone a nurse who died due to coronavirus.
The same information was provided by the Police Patil and Health officer of the village.
Hence, it was confirmed that Komal Mishra was neither a nurse in Naidu Hospital in Pune nor did she hail from Jodmoha village of Yavatmal district.
Who is she then?
Fact Crescendo Marathi tracked down the girl through Facebook whose picture is going viral. Her name is Shashikala Thakare. She wor as a nurse in a small health facility. Her native place is Dharmapuri in the Bhandara district.
She told us, “My friend informed me on Monday that my photo is going viral in the name of Komal Mishra. Somebody has used my photo, which was my Facebook profile picture, to spread the fake news about the death of a nurse due to coronavirus. I have filed a complaint in Sakoli police station regarding this.”
She also sent us a copy of her complaint along with the video in which she urged people not to spread false news using her photo. You can watch the video below.
(English Translation of Video: Hi friends, my name is Shashikala Thakare. I am from Dharmapuri village in the Bhandara district. My photo has been misused to spread fake news about the death of some Komal Mishra. I am healthy and alive but people are paying tribute to me. It has taken a toll on my mental health. I have filed a complaint in the police regarding this. I urge everyone not to spread the false news using my photo. Please, I request you.)
CONCLUSION
It is now clear that the viral photo is of Shashikala Thakare from the Bhandara district. Her photo is being falsely shared in the name of Nurse Komal Mishra. PMC also denied the claim of the death of a nurse at the Naidu Hospital.
Title: Viral Posts about the Death of Nurse Komal Mishra from Yavatmal are FAKE
Fact Check By: Mayur DeokarResult: False
