Viral Video Falsely Claims Male Congress Worker Attacked Female Cop
BOOM found that the video shows an altercation between a female congress worker and a female cop.
A video showing a scuffle between a woman and a female police officer is being shared on social media with the false claim that it shows a male Congress worker attacking a female cop.
BOOM found that the video is from an altercation that took place on October 13, 2026, between National Students’ Union of India (NSUI) national secretary Ritu Barala and a female Delhi police officer. Barala was falsely identified as a male Congress worker.
On October 13, NSUI, the Congress youth wing, staged a flash protest at Rajiv Chowk in Delhi, demanding the resignation of the Chief Election Commissioner, Gyanesh Kumar. Vinod Jhakkar, NSUI president, and hundreds of other activists were detained during the protest.
The Claim:
The 16-second video showing a fight is being shared on social media with a false claim that a male Congress worker attacked a female cop.
Archive available here.
What We Found:
1) Video shows altercation between Ritu Barala and female Delhi cop: We found a video of the same incident, filmed from a different angle, in an Instagram post by NSUI national secretary Ritu Barala. In the caption, Barala alleged that police assaulted her and other NSUI activists during their protest at Gate No. 7 of Rajiv Chowk Metro Station. The footage shows no male Congress worker attacking a female police officer.
2) Both videos show the same incident: We compared keyframes from both videos and found that they showed the same bus where the incident took place. The police officer and Barala's outfit were also visible in both clips.
3) News reports of the incident: We ran a keyword search and found news reports according to which Balra was physically assaulted, dragged, and put inside a bus. A fight then broke out between the officer and her, which escalated into a physical altercation. The officer pulled her hair and punched her, after which Balra hit her back.
