A video of an Instagram blogger is falsely shared as the last video of the Pahalgam terror attack victim, Lt Vinay Narwal
On 22 April 2025, a deadly terror attack in Pahalgam, Kashmir, rocked the whole nation. As per the latest reports, 26 innocent tourists were killed. One of these victims was the Indian Navy officer Lieutenant Vinay Narwal, who left behind his wife, Himanshi Narwal (here, here, and here). His last rites were performed in his native Karnal, Haryana, on 23 April 2025. In this context, a video (here, here, and here) of a couple dancing in a scenic backdrop is doing the rounds on social media, claiming it as the last video of Vinay Narwal and his wife, Himanshi Narwal. This was widely reported by the media organizations, too. We will fact-check this claim through this article.
Claim: Last video of Lieutenant Vinay Narwal, who was killed in the April 2025 Pahalgam terror attack.
Fact: This video features Instagram blogger Yashika Sharma Sherawat and her husband Ashish Sherawat. It has nothing to do with Lt Narwal. Yashika and Ashish clarified this in a video stating they are the ones featured in it, not Lt Nawral and his wife, Himanshi. The family of Lt Vinay Nawal also confirmed that this is not his video. Hence, the claim made in the post is False.
To check the viral video’s veracity, we searched the internet using relevant keywords and found a video uploaded by the Instagram handle named ‘kashmir_weather.’ This video featured a couple who said it was them in the viral video and that they are alive and safe. The couple in this video can be seen referring to the viral video and media reports, that claimed it was the last video of Lt Vinay Narwal.
We then performed a reverse image search online using this video’s key frames. We found the original clarification posted on Instagram by an Influencer couple, Yashika Sharma Sherwart, and Ashish Sherawat. Yashika’s Instagram bio states that she is a video creator and lifestyle blogger.
In this video posted by them on 23 April 2025, Yashika can be seen saying that it is them in the viral video, and that they are alive. They told the media that the video falsely reported that it shows Lt Narwal and his wife, Himanshi. She then said they are paying their condolences to Lt Vinay Nawal and Himanshi Narwal, and requested people to report the misuse of their video to the press and channels.
In the description of their video, they stated that the video has sparked a lot of hatred, leading them to delete it. It further said, ‘Sadly, the video was misused by multiple pages and news channels, falsely claiming it was the last video of late Vinay sir and his wife. Our heartfelt condolences go out to their family. We kindly request that you report any pages misusing our video, as it’s truly disheartening….’
On Yashika’s page, we found a video of her dancing in the same background as the now-deleted video. She posted this video on 19 April 2025.
We then performed an additional search on the internet and found a few media reports which said that the family of Lt Narwal has responded to this video and denied the claim (here, here, and here).
Live Hindustan reported that the family of Lt. Vinay Narwal has denied that the viral video features him and his wife. The report stated, “A video has been circulating on social media since yesterday, allegedly showing Navy officer Vinay Narwal and his wife Himanshi dancing. However, the video does not belong to them. Vinay’s family has confirmed this and objected to the false claim being spread.”
To sum up, a video of an Instagram blogger is falsely shared as the last video of the Pahalgam terror attack victim, Navy officer Vinay Narwal.