An image of an injured woman lying on the ground is going viral on social media platforms with users identifying her as Indian Air Force (IAF) pilot Shivani Singh.
What's the claim?: Those sharing the image have captioned it saying, "BREAKING: Initial image released of a female Indian Shivani singh Rafale pilot shot down in Pakistan."
What is the truth?: The image could be traced back to traced back to at least June 2023 and is from Chamarajanagar, Karnataka. It does not have any relation to the recent escalations between India and Pakistan.
What led us to the truth?: We used the help of Google Lens to conduct a reverse image search and found the same visual uploaded on an Instagram handle named 'starofmysore'.
The post was shared on 1 June 2023 and its caption said, "Trainer jet crashes in Chamarajanagar."
It added, "Two pilots of a light-weight Indian Air Force (IAF) Kiran Jet Trainer aircraft (HAL HJT-16 Kiran) had a providential escape after ejecting themselves from their plane before it crashed and turned into a fireball this noon..."
News reports: A report published in NDTV said that a trainer aircraft of the IAF had crashed in Karnataka. Both the pilots on board ejected safely before the crash and no other casualties were reported.
The aircraft had crashed near the Chamrajnagar district.
The News Minute had shared a video report about the incident on their official YouTube channel. It was uploaded on 1 June 2023 with a title saying, "IAF’s trainer aircraft crashes in Chamarajanagar."
The report identified the female pilot as trainee pilot Bhumika.
Other similar claims: The fact-checking wing of Press Information Bureau (PIB) took to its X handle to clarify that the claim about Squadron Leader Shivani Singh being captured in Pakistan is fake.
The post included a clip that is being widely shared to claim that Singh was captured.
Another video that shows a woman landing on the ground using a parachute is going viral as Singh landing in Pakistan on Saturday, 10 May. However, the video could be traced back to 7 May.
Conclusion: The image is old and is being shared with a false context on the internet.
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