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Female Engineer Who Claimed Responsibility for India Air Crash: Major Update Emerges
A Story That Shook India’s Aviation Sector
On June 12, 2025, the nation was left in shock after the tragic Air India AI-171 crash in Ahmedabad, Gujarat. While investigators scrambled to determine the real cause of the disaster, an unexpected twist came days later: a female engineer from Chennai, Rene Joshilda, claimed responsibility through an email threat.
Her shocking declaration turned the already devastating tragedy into a mystery. Was the crash sabotage? Was there a terror angle? Or was it a hoax designed to mislead investigators?
Now, fresh updates after her arrest provide a clearer, if disturbing, picture of the woman behind the claim — and what really happened after she was caught.
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Who is Rene Joshilda? The Engineer Behind the Claim
Rene Joshilda, a 34-year-old robotics engineer, was employed as a senior consultant at Deloitte in Chennai. Known among colleagues as highly intelligent but socially withdrawn, she lived a double life that very few suspected.
Investigators later revealed that she was operating under multiple fake identities online, sending hoax bomb threats across as many as 12 states. Schools, hospitals, airports, stadiums — no institution was spared from her wave of fabricated danger alerts.
But the most shocking of her actions was an email where she claimed responsibility for the Air India crash, threatening that similar disasters would follow if her demands were ignored.
The Arrest That Pulled the Mask Off
The Cyber Crime Branch of Ahmedabad, with help from cyber units in other states, tracked her movements relentlessly. Despite her use of VPNs, dark web resources, and virtual numbers, Rene made one crucial error:
She logged into her real personal email and one of her fake accounts from the same device. That slip gave investigators her IP address and connected her to the dozens of threatening messages she had sent.
On June 21, just nine days after the crash, police raided her residence in Chennai and arrested her. Authorities also seized laptops, mobile phones, and external storage devices packed with incriminating data.
Why Did She Do It? The Dark Motive
The investigation uncovered an unsettling motive: Rene was driven by unrequited love and obsession.
She had allegedly fallen for a former colleague, Divij Prabhakar, who moved on with his life and married another woman. Instead of letting go, Rene spiraled into resentment and sought revenge.
She fabricated fake social media accounts, spread harassment campaigns in his name, and ultimately attempted to frame him for the crash and bomb threats.
Police even discovered that she created a forged marriage certificate, attempting to prove she and Divij were married — a bizarre escalation that showed how deeply she had lost touch with reality.
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The False Claim About the Air India Crash
For investigators, her claim of responsibility for the Air India crash was initially alarming. The crash on June 12 had already killed passengers and crew, and aviation officials feared there could be a terrorism or sabotage element.
However, after thorough forensic checks, experts concluded her confession was entirely false. The crash itself is still under investigation by aviation authorities, but no evidence links Rene to the real cause of the tragedy.
Her confession was part of a string of hoax emails designed to gain attention, spread fear, and frame her ex-colleague.
The Legal Storm She Faces
Authorities have built a long charge sheet against Rene Joshilda. She faces charges under multiple sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and the Information Technology (IT) Act, including:
Criminal intimidation for threatening mass violence.
Impersonation and forgery for creating fake accounts and forged documents.
Public mischief for spreading false information that caused panic.
Violation of aviation safety laws for false claims connected to the plane crash.
Legal experts suggest she could face 10 years or more in prison if convicted, depending on how charges are consolidated and the outcome of psychiatric evaluations.
Psychological Evaluation Underway
One of the burning questions is whether Rene’s actions stemmed from mental illness.
Police confirmed that she will undergo comprehensive psychiatric assessment to determine if she was fully aware of her actions or driven by delusional disorder. Her obsession with her colleague, the creation of fake marriage documents, and her elaborate digital schemes raise serious concerns about her mental state.
If she is declared mentally unstable, it could affect the severity of her sentencing — but it would not erase the damage her hoaxes caused nationwide.
Nationwide Panic Triggered by Her Hoaxes
Between April and June 2025, Rene sent more than 60 hoax threats to different institutions.
Schools in Delhi and Maharashtra were forced to evacuate.
Hospitals in Gujarat received bomb alerts that disrupted critical medical services.
Stadiums in Karnataka and Tamil Nadu were placed under tight security sweeps.
Every false alarm drained law enforcement resources, created chaos among civilians, and dented public confidence in safety systems.
Officials said that if she hadn’t been arrested when she was, Rene had plans to send fresh threats during major events like the Jagannath Rath Yatra in Odisha.
How the Public Reacted
The revelation that a female engineer — not a terrorist network — was behind the claim of responsibility shocked the public.
Many expressed disbelief that a highly educated professional could stoop so low, while others pointed to rising mental health crises in high-pressure workplaces.
Social media was flooded with commentary:
Some users labeled her the “dark side of love obsession.”
Others criticized how easily panic can be spread in a digital age.
Families of victims of the actual crash condemned her for mocking their grief by turning the tragedy into part of her hoax campaign.
Impact on the Crash Investigation
Although Rene’s claim turned out to be fake, her emails initially delayed the real crash investigation. Aviation experts had to devote time and resources to cross-check whether she had any connection to the tragedy.
This slowed down public disclosure about the true cause of the AI-171 accident, which remains under technical review by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA).
Officials have now clarified that her threats had no link to the actual accident — the crash was caused by separate operational or technical issues that are still being examined.
Lessons From the Case
The arrest of Rene Joshilda underscores a number of urgent lessons for India and the wider world:
- Cyber forensics matter: Without strong digital tracking systems, she might have continued spreading hoaxes unchecked.
- Mental health must be addressed: Educated professionals under personal or emotional stress can resort to destructive actions if left untreated.
- Security protocols need constant upgrading: The chaos triggered by her false emails exposed gaps in how quickly authorities verify threats.
- Hoaxes have real victims: While she may not have caused the crash, her false claim intensified the trauma for grieving families.
What’s Next for Rene Joshilda
As of now, Rene remains in judicial custody. Courts are expected to:
Hear arguments about whether she should face charges in multiple states or under a consolidated federal case.
Receive reports from her psychological evaluation.
Decide on bail, which legal observers believe is highly unlikely given the severity and scope of her actions.
Her trial, once it begins, will likely attract massive media coverage, not just because of her claim about the crash, but also because of the bizarre personal motive behind her campaign.
The Bigger Picture
The case of Rene Joshilda is more than just a headline. It reveals how fragile security can become in a hyper-connected world, where one determined individual with digital tools can cause nationwide panic.
It also illustrates the human cost of obsession gone wrong — and how the misuse of intelligence and technology can spiral into criminality.
For India’s aviation and cybercrime units, the incident is a wake-up call. For ordinary citizens, it is a reminder of how quickly misinformation can travel and how important it is not to fall for unverified claims.
Conclusion: A Warning From the Digital Age
The tragedy of June 12’s Air India crash remains one of India’s darkest aviation moments. The false claim of responsibility by a female engineer only deepened the wound and revealed vulnerabilities in how modern societies handle threats.
Today, with Rene Joshilda behind bars, authorities hope the public can focus again on the real cause of the crash and work toward safer skies. But her story will remain a chilling example of how far obsession, deception, and technology misuse can go — and how much damage it can inflict on an already grieving nation.
