A selfie of singer Kanika Kapoor and Prime Minister Narendra Modi is going viral with the claims that Kapoor took the selfie after returning from London, following which she tested positive for the COVID-19 disease. This claim is false; Kapoor had tweeted this image on September 18, 2018 - long before the outbreak began in China.
Kapoor's case has caused an uproar in India, as she allegedly skipped quarantine after returning from an event in London, following which she attended several events in India along where she reportedly came in contact with high-profile politicians.
BOOM was tagged in a tweet containing the viral image .
@AltNews @boomlive_in
— Mathew Antony (@mathewmantony) March 21, 2020
Got this pic of PM standing close with #KanikaKapoor as fwd saying that PM to be quarantined. Kindly do a fact check & confirm whether it is a recent or an old one. Putting it in public so that we dont have to defame the PM though we politically disagree. pic.twitter.com/cr3SSHo31m
After searching through social media with the keywords "Kanika Modi Corona", we came across several other posts containing the picture and making similar claims.
For the uninitiated: This pic was taken before Kanika was tested positive for Corona.... And now. Don't say we are blaming Modi for that too. 😛
Posted by The Indian Liberals on Friday, 20 March 2020
It always hurt to see Modi ji's pictures with every bank robber who fled India: at times even when they were last seen-...
Posted by Sarvesh Mishra on Friday, 20 March 2020
This is Our PM Proudly Posing With Singer Kanika Kapur Who is reported to be Corona Virus Positive .
Posted by Ejaz Hussain on Friday, 20 March 2020
The viral claims insinuate that the image shows Modi meeting Kapoor, while the later was infected with the highly contagious SARS-CoV-2 virus.
Fact Check
BOOM did a reverse image search with the viral image, and found an 18-month-old tweet by Kapoor herself, which contained the viral selfie.
The tweet was made on September 18, 2018 - a day after Modi's birthday - with the caption, "Happy birthday @narendramodi Ji 🙏."
Happy birthday @narendramodi Ji 🙏 pic.twitter.com/CLRdEtheGU
— kanika kapoor (@TheKanikakapoor) September 18, 2018
Since the image was taken more than a year before the outbreak of COVID-19, and more than 18 months before Kapoor was tested positive, it does not show Kapoor meeting Modi while being infected with the SARS-CoV-2 virus.