Video shows Indian journalist speaking out about sexual violence in 2023, not after doctor's rape case in 2024

The video was shared elsewhere on Facebook and on social media site X with similar claims.

The posts came as the rape and murder of a doctor in Kolkata, the capital of West Bengal, sparked strikes and protests by doctors across India, expressing anger over the chronic problem of violence against women.

In 2022, an average of nearly 90 rapes were reported per day in the country of 1.4 billion people.

In a post on X on August 12, Sardesai wrote, “A story that stood out: an absolute shock from Kolkata. The rape and murder of a junior doctor in a hospital is absolutely shocking. NCRB 2022 data suggests that Kolkata is the safest metro for women… but this incident shows that safety cannot be taken for granted. The perpetrator must be given the maximum punishment. Zero tolerance and fast track trial” (archived link).

Old video

Furthermore, a reverse image keyframe search on Google revealed that the video circulating is old, corresponding to the 2:36:36 mark of a longer footage posted on the official YouTube channel of Hindi news channel The Lallantop on August 5, 2023 (archived link).

The longer footage shows an episode of the weekly political talk show “Netanagari”.

Below you can see a screenshot comparison of the clip shared in fake posts (left) and the video from The Lallantop (right):

During the show, the speakers were asked by an audience member about sexual violence in India.

Sardesai responded, in part, “It's a balance of power. And if you see, especially in North India, when you go to a public place, women don't have that much freedom. And when violence occurs, they become easy targets.”

“I have seen that in Gujarat, in Mumbai in 1992/93 or in Muzaffarnagar in 2012, whenever there are riots, there are reports of rape and gang rape. What is the reason for this?”

At this point, another panelist asked him, “Why didn't you mention Bengal? That happened only recently.”

Sardesai said, among other things, “Bengal is the only state with a woman chief minister. The fact is that women are easy targets in political violence or mass violence because they are seen as male power. Since the system is male-dominated, if a woman challenges it at any level, men exercise their power.”

“Even if the prime minister is a woman, it makes no difference. At the local level, control is in the hands of men,” he added.