A couple who faked climbing to the top of the world’s tallest mountain has been banned from Mount Everest after their lies were exposed.
Indian climbers Seema Rani Goswami and Narender Singh Yadav have been banned from Mt. Everest after it came to light that their 2016 journey to the peak was faked.
According to the Nepali authorities, the pair, as well as their team leader, has been banned from mountain climbing in the country and ordered to pay a fine after presenting false documents, including photoshopped pictures, in an attempt to claim recognition for the achievement they didn’t achieve.
The incident took place back in 2016 when Yadav, who was about to receive the prestigious Tenzing Norgay Adventure Award before the truth came out, and Goswami claimed to have been to the top of Mt Everest.
To back their claims, they presented doctored photos along with a fake report written by their team leader Naba Kumar Phukon.
After an analysis of the climbing team’s documents, the officials discovered their allegations were fake, whereas the photos the team presented were photoshopped.
Since the discovery, the authorities have launched an investigation in a bid to nullify Yadav and Goswami’s summit certification. Both the mountaineers as well as their team leader were also fined and banned from climbing in Nepal for six years.
“In our investigation, we found that they had submitted fake documents [including photographs],” a spokesperson for the country’s tourism ministry said in a statement to The Indian Express.
“They couldn’t produce any evidence of their ascent to the peak,” another official said. “They even failed to submit reliable photos of them at the summit.”
After the truth came out, Seven Summit Treks, the organization that arranged the expedition, said the ban was a good decision even though their company got penalized as well.
“It is a good decision from the government and a warning to others,” Mingma Sherpa told Al Jazeera.
“Back then, everyone had said that they reached the summit so we reported it. But the mountaineering industry is based on trust and we must maintain it.”
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Replaced!