Mumbai blasts: Fake online post irks victim's family, KEM

Social sites may have helped many people after Wednesday’s blasts but it surely not doing any good for KEM hospital and Dadar blast victim Varsha Karia.

A post on a popular website claimed that Karia’s family was still untraceable, in spite of her kin being by her side. The rumours kept the phones at the hospital ringing.

The post about Karia’s being all alone triggered a lot of interest across social networking sites. People called up KEM hospital to enquire about Karia. However, they were surprised to know that she was with her family and was ready to be discharged soon.

A woman, who was standing outside the dean’s office to enquire about Karia, told DNA, “I am a very emotional person and could not wait to see her. But the hospital is not letting me meet her.” 

The posts on the site attracted the media too. A member of a news channel team said, “We saw Karia being featured in the news today and thought we would get to interview her. After investigation, we found that all the posts were rumours. It is best to not rely on this kind of a medium.”

Karia’s sister-in-law Veena, a schoolteacher, said, “I don’t know why people spread rumours.”
Dr Parvin Banger of the hospital said, “I am going mad attending calls of people who believe rumours on social sites. Such nonsense absorbs our energy and time.”