Two separate videos of farmer leader Rakesh Tikait have been merged together and shared online with misleading captions claiming that a female reporter from news channel Republic Bharat misbehaved with Tikait.
BOOM found that the videos are from two separate incidents and the claim with the viral clip is fake.
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On December 1, Bharatiya Kisan Union national spokesperson Rakesh Tikait was seen losing his temper on a Republic Bharat reporter at the protest site at Delhi-Uttar Pradesh border. According to a report published in Republic World on December 2, the farmer leader had lost his cool when a journalist questioned him about his intention behind the continued agitation at the Ghazipur border. A report published in Lokmat states that Tikait had accused the reporter of 'touching him inappropriately'. The video is viral in this backdrop.
The video shows a woman reporter holding Tikait by his shoulder while trying to interview him. Moments later, Tikait can be seen screaming at a journalist saying, "She is touching physically. This is wrong. Go away." The reporter and Tikait can be seen having a heated exchange of words. The clip is being shared on Facebook with misleading captions.
A Hindi caption with the Facebook post sharing the clip translates to 'Female reporter of R Bharat misbehaves with Rakesh Tikait. He got infuriated'.
(Hindi: R Bhart की महिला रिपोर्टर ने किया राकेश टिकैत के साथ गलत हरकत, भड़क गए टिकैत!)
Click here to view the post.
The video has also been shared with English captions. A text on the video reads 'Level of Journalism: This is how a female reporter of Republic bharat tried to defame farmer leader, Rakesh Tikait. But her stunt went wrong as Rakesh Tikair remained vigilant & exposed her'.
The caption accompanying the post reads 'This is Republic Bharat'.
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Click here to view the post.
Fact Check
BOOM watched the video closely and found that it shows two separate incidents. We did a keyword search to find the videos.
Video of reporter holding Tikait by shoulder
BOOM did a keyword search with relevant words and found a tweet from December 30, 2020 sharing a longer version of one of the clips that's viral now.
One can clearly see in the video that the female reporter holding Tikait by his shoulder is carrying a Zee TV mic.
Taking cue, we did some more keyword searches and found the same video uploaded on the YouTube channel of News India 24 with a Hindi headline translating to 'Zee News' lady reporter did something with Rakesh Tikait that everyone was shocked'. The vieo was uploaded on December 31, 2020.
(Hindi: Rakesh Tikait के साथ Zee News की Lady Reporter ने कर दी ऐसी हरकत, सब हुए हैरान !)
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Video showing heated argument between Tikait and female reporter
The second video in the viral clip is from an incident that took place on December 1 at the Delhi-UP farmers' protest site.
We did a keyword search and found a video uploaded on Republic Bharat's YouTube channel on December 1 with a Hindi headline translating to 'Frustrated by Republic Bharat's questions Rakesh Tikait threatens reporter | Tikait Vs Reporter video'.
(Hindi: Republic Bharat के सवालों से बौखलाए Rakesh Tikait, Reporter को दी धमकी | Tikait Vs Reporter Video)
In the video Tikait can be seen engaged in a heated argument with a female reporter of the channel. He can be heard saying, "Make video, she is misbehaving. She touches physically. Go away."
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