Fact Check: Woman in viral reel not showing Smriti Singh, wife of Shahid Captain Anshuman Singh

Captain Anshuman Singh, who was serving as a medical officer in the 26 Punjab Regiment, tragically lost his life while rescuing people from a fire at Indian Army ammunition dump in the Siachen glacier area. On July 19, 2023, a short circuit caused the fire. Upon spotting a fiberglass hut engulfed in flames, Captain Singh immediately acted to save those trapped inside. He successfully rescued five individuals, but the fire soon spread to the nearby medical investigation room, leading to his untimely death.

On July 5, 2023, President Droupadi Murmu posthumously conferred India's second-highest gallantry award, the Kirti Chakra, to Captain Anshuman Singh.

Following the posthumous award, Captain Anshuman Singh’s parents, Ravi Pratap Singh and Manju Singh, have urged revisions to the Indian Army’s 'next of kin' (NOK) policy. This policy dictates the allocation of financial assistance to families in the event of an army personnel's death. In an interview with Times Now Navbharat, they expressed their concerns, stating that the current NOK rules need to be revisited. They pointed out that Smriti Singh, their daughter-in-law, received most of the entitlements following Anshuman's death but no longer resides with them.

Meanwhile, a video circulating on social media features a woman wearing an off-white saree and posing for filming. The video was uploaded by the YouTube channel Viral Nation with the title "Anshuman Singh's Wife Smriti Instagram Viral Video."

Fact Check: The claim is false. The woman in the viral reel is not Smriti Singh, the wife of Martyr Captain Anshuman Singh.

Upon conducting a key frame search of the viral video, we discovered an Instagram account, Mogra.in, that posted the same pictures. In the post, Mogra mentioned three Instagram accounts, including @reshsebu. 

Further investigation revealed that the woman in the viral reel is Reshma Sebastian, who has 350K followers on Instagram. Reshma uploaded the video on 24thApril.2024, which has since gone viral with false claims linking her to Smriti Singh. 

We also found Reshma post on her instagram account “There is a limit,” and added, “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.”

First Post published an article on this with the headline “Influencer mistaken for Captain Anshuman Singh's widow breaks silence on getting trolled: 'There's a limit to...' In an article, First Post mentioned: “A social media influencer was being trolled all of a sudden and the reason was her resemblance to Singh. Reshma Sebastian, the influencer in question, shared a note on her Instagram account after users made her resemblance to Captain Anshuman Singh’s widow Smriti Singh viral.”

Reshma Sebastian, a popular fashion influencer from Kerala, took to Instagram on Sunday to clarify that she is not Smriti Singh, the wife of Captain Anshuman Singh. Earlier this month, Singh had received the Kirti Chakra that was awarded to her husband posthumously. Published by Hindustan Times.

Live Mint also published “Instagram influencer Reshma Sebastian has clarified on Instagram that she is not Smriti Singh, the widow of Captain Anshuman Singh. The fashion influencer from Kerala has been facing ‘hate comment’ on social media”.

Hence, we found the claim is false, the woman in the viral reel is Reshma Sebastian, not the wife of martyr Kirti Chakra awardee Captain Anshuman Singh.