An image is being shared with the claim that Prakash Kaur, sister of freedom fighter Shaheed Bhagat Singh, has passed away insinuating that it’s a recent incident.
However, speaking to The Quint’s WebQoof, Abhay Sandhu, nephew of Bhagat Singh, confirmed that the viral image is indeed of Prakash Kaur, but she passed away in 2014.
CLAIM
The claim shared along with the image reads: “शहीद भगतसिंह की 96 वर्षीय छोटी बहन प्रकाश कौर हमारे बीच आज नही रहीं, किसी नेता राजनेता ने शोक व्यक्त नहीं किया आइये हम आज़ादी के परवाने की बहन को श्रद्धांजलि अर्पित करें”
(Translation: Shaheed Bhagat Singh’s 96-year-old younger sister Prakash Kaur is no longer with us, no politician has mourned. Let us pay tribute to the sister of the freedom fighter)
The claim saw widespread presence on Facebook and Twitter.
WHAT WE FOUND OUT
We searched on Google with keywords ‘Prakash Kaur Bhagat Singh Sister Death’ and came across several reports from 2014.
A Times of India article published on 29 September 2014 mentioned that Prakash Kaur passed away in Canada on 28 September 2014, which was Bhagat Singh’s 107th birth anniversary.
Speaking from Brampton, Prakash Kaur’s elder son Rupinder Singh had then told the publication, “She passed away six hours ago, around 4 in the afternoon on 28 September.”
Several media outlets such as Hindustan Times, The Hindu also published reports on the said incident in 2014.
REGARDING THE VIRAL IMAGE
We performed a reverse search on the image on Yandex and came across a blogpost that carried the viral image and was published in 2013.
Speaking to The Quint’s WebQoof, Abhay Sandhu, nephew of Bhagat Singh, confirmed that the viral image is indeed of Prakash Kaur.
“This is her photo but the information being shared along with it is false. She passed away on 28 September 2014 in Canada,” he added.
It is pertinent to note that the same image making the identical claim was viral in 2020 as well and fact-checking website BOOM, among others had debunked it then.
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