Fact Check: Viral Video Falsely Claims Virat Kohli Demands Hanging For Rapists In Kolkata Doctor Murder Case
Fact Check: A viral video claiming that cricketer Virat Kohli commented on the RG Kar murder case is false. The original footage is from a 2022 podcast.
The Verdict [False]
- The segment is from a 2022 podcast with Kohli; unrelated audio has been overlaid to falsely suggest that Kohli commented on the RG Kar murder case.
(Trigger Warning: This story contains mentions of rape and sexual assault. Reader discretion is advised.)
What's the claim?
A video circulating on social media claims to show Indian cricketer Virat Kohli condemning the recent rape and murder of a 31-year-old trainee doctor at Kolkata's RG Kar Medical College and Hospital. The video reportedly features Kohli advocating for the hanging of all rapists.
The incident occurred on August 9, when a postgraduate trainee doctor was allegedly raped and murdered while on duty at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital. The case has sparked nationwide outrage, prompting public figures from various fields to call for justice and raise awareness about the tragedy.
In the video, text in Hindi above Kohli's image reads (translated), "Virat sir has also supported." Another line below reads, "Aryan sir motivational."
This clip has been shared across platforms such as Facebook, X (formerly Twitter), and YouTube. Archived versions of such posts can be found here, here, here, here, and here.
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Our investigation revealed that the viral video was manipulated by overlaying audio onto original footage from a 2022 podcast in which Kohli reflected on how the Indian Premier League (IPL) tournament transformed his life.
What did we find?
A reverse image search revealed a similar video of Kohli posted on Instagram(archived here) on May 24, 2024. In this video, Kohli discusses how, until 2018, his achievements were often overshadowed by the comment, "But England..." despite his global success. This video predates the Kolkata rape-murder case, indicating it is unrelated to the RG Kar incident.
Further investigation showed that in February 2022, Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) shared a one-minute clip from a podcast featuring Kohli on X (archived here). The caption indicated that the podcast was about the IPL and Kohli's personal journey. Kohli also posted a longer excerpt of this podcast on his X account (archived here), discussing his experiences with the IPL.
In both posts, Kohli is wearing a jacket with a Puma emblem on the left side and another symbol on the right. This matches the attire seen in the viral video.
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The RCB channel also uploaded the full podcast video (archived here) on YouTube on February 26, 2024. Titled "RCB Podcast: How the IPL Changed My Life ft. Virat Kohli | Full Episode," the video is 46 minutes and 27 seconds long. The segment now viral appears between the 6:52 and 7:00 mark.
In this segment, Kohli says, "I felt like the composition of that team, with amazing players in the right positions, meant I was not able to play in the position that was my strength." This exact portion matches the viral video, including Kohli's facial expressions and mouth movements.
This confirms that the segment has been edited with overlaid audio to falsely link Kohli's remarks to the RG Kar murder case.
What is the source of the video?
We traced the video to the Instagram account aryan_sir_motivational (archived here), which posted it on August 20. Comments on this post indicated that it had been edited; in response to one such comment, the account seemed to take credit for the video. Logically Facts has contacted the account owner for comment and will update this fact-check upon receiving a response.
As of August 22, there is no record of Kohli making any statements directly related to the Kolkata rape-murder case. While he has previously condemned violence against women, he has not addressed the RG Kar case.
The verdict
The original footage is from a 2022 RCB podcast where Kohli discussed his experiences of playing in the IPL. The segment in question has been edited with overlaid audio to falsely suggest that Kohli commented on the RG Kar murder case.
(This report first appeared on logicallyfacts.com, and has been republished on ABP Live as part of a special arrangement. ABP Live has edited the headline and feature image of the report while republishing)
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