This viral video does not show Smriti Singh, the wife of martyred Captain Anshuman Singh

Misleading National

The woman featured in the viral video is not Smriti Singh, the wife of martyred Captain Anshuman Singh. She is a social media influencer named Reshma Sebastian.

Smriti Singh, the wife of late Captain Anshuman Singh who was awarded Kirti Chakra posthumously on July 5, for the ultimate sacrifice in saving the life of his fellow army men from a fire at Siachen. Following this, his parents, however, claimed that Smriti took the gallantry award to her home in Punjab’s Gurdaspur along with his photo album, clothes, and other memories. His parents called for revisions to the Indian Army’s ‘next of kin’ (NOK) policy. This policy determines the allocation of financial assistance to families in the event of an army personnel’s death. 

Against this backdrop, a video of a woman has gone viral on social media with the claim that “a mother sacrificed her son for the country and the wife of the martyred soldier is spreading her beauty on Instagram with Rs 1 crore and Shaurya Chakra.” and it is linked to the ongoing discussion about her receiving financial assistance instead of Captain Singh’s parents.

The post is being shared with the claim that the woman seen in the video is the wife of martyr Captain Anshuman Singh.

Facebook Post |Archive link

Fact Check- 

We started our investigation by running a reverse image search on Google, whose results led us to the same video uploaded on the Instagram profile of a model named Reshma Sebastian on 24 April, 2024. The caption of the post shows that this video was made to promote a saree. Reshma Sebastian is a popular fashion influencer from Kerala, currently lives in Germany.

Instagram| Archive link

Moving forward, we found a post on Reshma’s profile dated 14 July, which read, “This is not Smriti Singh’s (widow of Indian Army soldier Capt. Anshuman Singh) page/ig account. Read the profile details and bio first. Please refrain from spreading false information and hate comments.” She faced hate comments online after she was wrongly identified as Captain Anshuman Singh’s wife Smriti Singh.

Instagram

we also came across a recent story on her Instagram page that states, “There is a limit for harassments, we filed case against defamation”.

Taking account of these evidences, we can understand that the video of a social media influencer is mistakenly shared as that of Smriti Singh, the wife of the martyred Captain Anshuman Singh.

Smriti Singh

Conclusion- 

Fact Crescendo found that the claim made along with the viral image to be Misleading. The woman featured in the viral video is not Smriti Singh, the wife of martyred Captain Anshuman Singh. She is a social media influencer named Reshma Sebastian.

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Title:This viral video does not show Smriti Singh, the wife of martyred Captain Anshuman Singh

Fact Check By: Usha Manoj  

Result: Misleading