Did Indian journalist Jessica Goel report Ladakh climate activist Sonam Wangchuk’s alleged custodial death? Fact Check
Claim : Viral clip shows journalist Jessica Goel from India Today reporting that Ladakh climate activist Sonam Wangchuk died in police custody.
Conclusion : The claim is false. The audio in the video is altered by AI alongside some fabricated and random visuals. The authentic footage covers another event of Karnataka state politics, not about Sonam Wangchuk’s death.
Rating : Totally False–
Several social media users have shared a clip of journalist Jessica Goel from India Today reporting about Sonam Wangchuk’s death. This clip was shared by X user ‘Mushk_0’ with the caption : “The extrajudicial killing of Sonam Wangchuk sparks suspicion as central agencies attempt to suppress the news. Things are grim for Ladakh, this Modi regime has crossed all limits of sanity.” View the post below –
The extrajudicial killing of Sonam Wangchuk sparks suspicion as central agencies attempt to suppress the news. Things are grim for Ladakh, this Modi regime has crossed all limits of sanity. pic.twitter.com/KsjWNbA0af
— M. (@Mushk_0) November 27, 2025
The post included a 1:21-minute video purportedly from India Today TV channel, depicting journalist Jessica Goel reporting Wangchuk’s death due to “medical collapse” or “custodial killing” in Jodhpur Central Jail.
FACT CHECK
DigitEYE India decided to investigate this claim and found that it is false. Wangchuk is alive and detained under the National Security Act (NSA) since September 26, 2025, following protests for Ladakh statehood. No credible reports or government confirmation of his death was made and the video is a deep fake.
We first watched the video and noted comments such as “Sources say Sonam Wangchuk collapsed inside the Jail, was taken to hospital and declared dead within minutes. The jail administration claims routine procedure but the story is getting darker. His family alleges delayed information, possible injury marks and refusal of immediate access to the body”. Furthermore, the video also claims that “The Union Home Ministry has ordered reports. Agencies are scrambling for CCTV and medical records…”
Following this, we conducted a web search with various phrases from the above content to get reports on the claim. However, we did not come across any credible media outlets nor any reports by the Union Home Ministry about launching an investigation or media outlets scrambling for CCTV or medical records.
Next, we conducted a reverse image search from various keyframes in the beginning of the video. We came across the authentic video footage posted by India Today on their official X account on November 26, 2025. The post is captioned : “Amid the Karnataka CM race, DK Shivakumar’s cryptic message to the high command — ‘Word power is world power’ @sagayrajp with more details…” View the post here.
Amid the Karnataka CM race, DK Shivakumar’s cryptic message to the high command — ‘Word power is world power’@sagayrajp with more details#Karnataka #DKShivakumar #Congress | @jessica_goel pic.twitter.com/eNeSoeHVCa
— IndiaToday (@IndiaToday) November 26, 2025
We verified that this is the authentic footage by the matching attire, remote in her hand and the glass of water on her right side. The viral video in the claim has altered the banner below and changed the whole context of the video. Moreover, we checked the official X account of Jessica Goel and she has retweeted this post of India Today.
In the original video, journalist Jessica Goel is speaking about a high-stakes political tussle unfolds over the Karnataka’s Chief Minister’s chair as Deputy CM DK Shivakumar fires cryptic shots at the Congress high command. Citing a 2023 power-sharing pact, DKS emphasizes that “world power is word power, the biggest force in the world is to keep one’s word”.
Following this, we extracted the audio from the claim and tested it through Undetectable AI’s audio voice detector. The results came out to be only 1% real, proving that the audio is generated by AI. View the results below –
Numerous reports including one published by The Hindu writes about Sonam Wangchuk’s Supreme Court hearings on his NSA detention being adjourned to December 8, 2025. No official announcements or medical records indicate death in the policy custody. Newslaundry interviewed his wife Gitanjali J. Angmo who did not mention that he is dead, rather focused on the issue of normalcy in Ladakh among other topics.
Thus, the claim is false.
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