A number of media outlets and widely followed social media accounts have shared the image of a woman, alleging that she is Nikita Singhania - the estranged wife of late Bengaluru-based techie, Atul Subhash who died by suicide.
BOOM found that image being shared is not of Subhash's wife, but of a different person, who also happens to be named Nikita Singhania. We accessed images of Subhash's wife, and ascertained that the viral image shows a different person, which was further confirmed to us by Subhash's brother.
34-year-old Subhash’s death by suicide earlier this month has resulted in widespread outrage and debate on social media, after he left a 24-page suicide note accusing his estranged wife, her relatives, and a a judge, of extortion, harassment, and corruption. Several men’s rights activist accounts started sharing the image of a woman, alleging it shows Subhash’s wife Nikita Singhania.
One such user shared the viral image along with excerpts from the with the caption, "Meet Nikita Singhania, the lady who slapped false cases on her husband #AtulSubhash and demanded 3 cr to settle the cases. She was being given 80000 per month by Atul for maintenance by the order of court while she herself works in Accenture. Look at the conversation in court. The law of the land has killed a bright young man."
Click here to view an archive of the above tweet, and here, here and here to view more such tweets.
We also found news reports by Republic and Free Press Journal on Subhash's wife, which included the same incorrect image.
Viral Image Of A Different Nikita Singhania
Looking through the social media posts, and referring to the information in news reports about Subhash's wife Nikita Singhania, BOOM found other photos of Subhash's wife shared by social media users.
We compared those photos to the selfie photo of the woman in the car and found that the facial features do not match, and that they are images of two different people. Furthermore, we also traced the Instagram account of the Nikita Singhania, whose profile photo is being shared widely as that of Subhash's wife.
Her now-deactivated account mentioned in the bio that she is from Raipur (Chhattisgarh) whereas news reports stated that Subhash's wife is based in a different city.
BOOM reached out to Atul Subhash's brother and shared some of the photos that went viral.
He identified one of the women as his estranged sister-in-law, which confirmed to us that the other image going viral is that of a different Nikita Singhania.
Note: If you are in need of support, or know someone who does, do not hesitate to reach out to one of the helplines below:
- AASRA: 91-22-27546669 (24 hours)
- Sneha Foundation: 91-44-24640050 (24 hours)
- Vandrevala Foundation for Mental Health: 1860-2662-345 and 1800-2333-330 (24 hours)
- iCall: (555)123-4567 (Available from Monday to Saturday: 8:00am to 10:00pm)
- Connecting NGO: 18002094353 (Available from 12 pm - 8 pm)
- The Samaritans Mumbai: 91-84229 84528/91-84229 84529/91 84228 84530 (Daily, 3 pm - 9 pm)