Unrelated Videos Spliced And Shared With False Claim Against Republic Bharat

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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