A video claiming to show a Pakistani panelist mocking Abp News anchor Chitra Tripathi in a news debate and making sexist remarks about her appearance is edited and does not depict a real exchange during the broadcast.
BOOM found that the video has been digitally edited by a Pakistani Facebook user, Atta Muhammad Mari, who produces satirical videos by inserting himself as a panelist into Indian news debates.
The Claim:
The video is being shared on X with the claim that it shows a real heated exchange between a Pakistani panelist and Tripathi. In the video, the panelist is heard taunting her over her appearance and mockingly alleging that her makeup expenses are borne by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
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What We Found:
1) Original visuals from May 2025 Abp News debate on India-Pakistan tensions
We checked the original broadcast from May 2, 2025, in which Tripathi can be seen wearing the same outfit. We found that the Pakistani panelist in that debate is not the same person as seen in the viral video.
Additionally, upon reviewing the full debate, we did not find any such exchange where sexist remarks were made about Tripathi’s appearance. While the debate did turn heated, it does not match the visuals or dialogue heard in the viral video.
In the original broadcast, the moment at 18:07 where Tripathi can be heard asking the Pakistani panelist, “You’ll handle Balochistan,” matches the opening segment of the viral video, establishing that the unedited footage has been taken from this broadcast.
2) Edited satire video from Pakistani Facebook user
We found that the edited satire video was posted by a Pakistani account Facebook user, Atta Muhammad Mari, who creates parody content by inserting himself into Indian news debates to mock and defend Pakistan.
The edited video was posted on April 6 by the same handle.
We also found that the account regularly shares similar edited videos featuring other Hindi news channel anchors.
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3) Tripathi's X response
Tripathi also posted on X on April 8 calling out Congress leader Alka Lamba for posting the video.
