A popular influencer on Instagram, Reshma Sebastian, has issued a clarification and said that she is not Smriti Singh, the widow of Captain Anshuman Singh, who was recently awarded Kirti Chakra posthumously, India's second-highest gallantry award, by President Droupadi Murmu, for his bravery during a fire incident in Siachen.
Many internet users mistakenly believed Ms Sebastian to be Smriti Singh. Several people stated that their facial features and hairstyle seem similar. Notably, the influencer is a mother to a four-year-old girl and resides in Germany.
The influencer said that she endured harassment for her fashion videos and pictures on the social networking platform. Ms Sebastian also shared a screenshot on her Instagram story of a man mocking the Army officer's wife in a post that included her picture.
She wrote, "This is absurd! Using my identity to spread false information about Smriti Singh. We are going ahead with legal actions." The influencer, who has over three lakh followers, urged people to inform her of any other such incident.
Reshma Sebastian also shared a post on her Instagram feed and captioned it, "There is a limit." "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 wrote in the post.
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In July last year, a short circuit led to a fire in an Indian Army ammunition dump at Siachen around 3 am. Captain Singh helped rescue those stuck inside a fibre-glass hut near the dump as it caught fire. When the fire reached a nearby medical investigation shelter, Captain Singh attempted to retrieve life-saving medicine stored inside. In doing so, he suffered severe burns and died soon after.
The couple were married in February last year after Captain Singh graduated from Armed Forces Medical College, Pune. This was his first posting at Siachen under Operation Meghdoot.