Multiple fake accounts on Instagram are impersonating Smriti Singh, wife of deceased Kirti Chakra awardee Captain Anshuman Singh. These accounts are posting false content about Singh, even as the police is investigating a case in connection to derogatory content posted about her.
On July 7, Captain Anushman Singh, a medical officer received the Kirti Chakra posthomously for his valiant efforts in rescuing people including several other soldiers from an accidental fire. According to media reports Singh who had managed to rescue many people stuck in a fibre glass hut, went back to retrieve some life saving drugs but unfortunately lost his life in the fire.
The award was collected by his wife Smriti Singh and the soldier's parents. Following this, the parents of the deceased soldier approached the government for a change in the Indian Army's Next of Kin policy claiming that Anshuman's widow Smriti had left their house with his belongings including the award.
Smriti Singh made news again after a case was registered in connection with alleged derogatory comments made against her on social media. The case was registered under the newly passed Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and relevant sections of the the Information Technology (IT) Act. The National Commission for Women which filed the suo moto case recently said that the comment was most likely made by a user in Pakistan.
Even as the case is being investigated, DECODE found multiple fake accounts impersonating Singh on Instagram and posting content showing her dancing and posing for cameras.
For instance, the account @smriti_capt.anshuman.singh with about 8000 followers has been posting photoshopped pictures of Smriti and Anshuman, showing them next to each other with captions explaining how much Singh misses her husband.
While these accounts do not have lakhs of followers, the videos posted have multiple comments, all passing lewd remarks against Smriti, alleging that she has abandoned the parents of the late Captain Anshuman Singh.
In another post, captioned, "Money is not important for me • Respect of the country is important for me", the account attempted to debunk viral posts trolling Smriti and calling her derogatory names for not staying with the deceased husband's parents.
Another account created July 7, 2024 posted videos of a Germany-based influencer Reshma Sebastian showing her dancing and posing for the camera, making it seem like it was Smriti. The reels posted by the fake accounts, featuring Sebastian were also shared by many men's rights organisation with captions passing remarks against Singh and claiming she is a gold digger who has abandoned her late husband's parents and disappeared with the award money; allegations made the father of Anshuman Singh against her.
Sebastian, an influencer with over three lakh followers, issued a statement on Instagram clarifying that she was the woman in the videos and that she is not related to the late officer. The statement came after multiple comments on Sebastian's posts abused her and trolled her, mistaking her for Smriti Singh.
Sebastian is a fashion influencer living in Germany with her husband and child and is currently visiting Kerala. Sebastian's posts from the last week have received hateful comments calling her a "gold-digger" and claiming that she has abandoned Captain Anshuman's parents after collecting the award money.
We also found nearly 15 fake accounts all created in July 2024, impersonating the deceased Captain Anshuman Singh. The accounts with about 200-300 followers each, all post content similar to those on the fake Smriti Singh accounts - altered photos of the late officer and his wife attempting to show them together and reels claiming Smriti Singh is dancing and posing for the camera.
All the accounts DECODE found were created in July, days after the Kirti Chakra, the second highest peace time gallantry award for Anshuman Singh was collected by his wife Smriti and his mother. Smriti in her interviews to mediapersons after the award ceremony recalled how the couple started dating in engineering college. Smriti's video interviews to news channels and personal photos from the couple's wedding are also being shared on the fake accounts to give it a sense of authenticity.
Other content on the fake Anshuman Singh accounts carry unrelated photos and videos of funeral processions of soldiers who have died previously and videos of soldiers undergoing training with caption making it seem like the videos feature the late officer. Many of the fake accounts created in July 2024, are stealing content from an account Shahid Captain Anshuman Singh which was created the same month as the officer died in 2023 and regularly posted updates till all the rites were completed.
While DECODE could not independently verify who runs this account, we were able to confirm that the videos being used by the viral fake Instagram account including those showing a distraught Smriti, match the ones on this account.