A photo of a young Indian student who was stuck in Ukraine is being shared with a fake quote falsely claiming that she reached India then complained that she was dropped at the Mumbai airport and had to spend 234 rupees to get back home by taxi.
BOOM identified the student in the viral photo - Jnanashree Singh from Mysore, Karnataka and contacted her father Ganesh Singh who told us that the statement attributed to her is untrue as she only landed in India at the Delhi airport today morning (March 5, 2022) and has not yet reached home.
The photo of Singh is being shared with the quote reading, "Indian Embassy dropped me at Mumbai Airport, from there I got no help. I waited for 30 mins but no one was there from Indian Embassy. I called embassy no one picked up my phone. Then I had to book a cab by myself and reach home. which costed me 234 Rs. - Student"
Most posts mocked her and claimed that the girl was being ungrateful instead of thankful for being evacuated.
The same graphic is also being shared widely on Facebook with the false claim.
Also Read:Doctored Video Peddled As Staged Reporting By Indian Media On Ukraine
FACT-CHECK
BOOM found that the quote attributed to the young student in the viral graphic is fake and the photo has been taken from a video she recorded seeking help to be evacuated along with other students stranded in Ukraine after the Russian invasion.
A reverse image search showed the same viral photo used in an article by Star of Mysore website published on February 28, 2022. The article states that she hails from Mysore, Karnataka, and had made a video appealing to be evacuated along with other Indian students stuck in Ukraine. We identified the Indian student as Jnanashree Singh.
The same photo can be seen as in the viral graphic.
The report further states that in the video, Singh can be seen pointing out that she stays at a place close to Ukraine's border with Russia on the eastern side, and she along with 300 other students are taking shelter in the hostel bunker.
On searching with her name, we also found local Kannada news reports with her video appeal recorded in Ukraine.
BOOM then contacted Singh's father Ganesh Singh, who denied the viral quote being attributed to his daughter stating that she only landed in India today and is in Delhi currently as on March 5, 2022.
"This is untrue, as she landed at Delhi airport today morning itself with help of the rescue operation by the Indian Embassy, there is no question of her talking a cab from Mumbai home as being claimed in the quote as she is in Delhi and still not back home," Singh told BOOM
BOOM has previously debunked misinformation post the invasion of Ukraine by Russia and posts with false claims around Indian students stuck in Ukraine.