NEW DELHI — ABP News apologised over the weekend after it ran a false item suggesting that police had raided a “sex racket” at a hostel associated with the Bhojpuri folk singer Neha Singh Rathore, calling the report incorrect “based on facts,” South First reported.
The channel showed a nine-second clip of a purported police raid on Saturday, October 17, under a caption that asked whether there was a sex racket at the hostel associated with Rathore and said police had raided it, South First reported. Rathore objected within hours. “This channel wants to label me as a prostitute and call girl,” she wrote on X.
Hours later ABP published what it called a “Clarification and Apology.” It said: “A news item related to folk singer Neha Singh Rathore was broadcast on ABP Network’s digital platform, which was found to be incorrect based on facts. We regret this erroneous broadcast and seek forgiveness for it.”
Rathore rejected the apology and said she would take legal action. “Do you have any idea what your ‘fake news’ and this desperate bid for big-time brokerage have done to my mental state? We’ll meet in court. I want justice, not forgiveness,” she said, according to South First.
The next day the digital outlet DeshSutra posted a reel on Instagram whose caption says Rathore “reportedly called ABP Vice President Rajnish Ahuja to question him over a video clip uploaded on ABP News’ YouTube channel that she alleged spread fake news about her,” and that she said he “failed to provide a satisfactory response.” The caption adds that the specific allegations and Ahuja’s full response “have not been independently verified.” Accounts passed to TEH say Ahuja ended the call while she was in tears, and that the item was telecast in video form on the channel, with no written report; TEH could not hear the call or view the broadcast, and reports those points only as accounts.
The criticism came from beyond Rathore. Nikhil Pahwa, founder and editor of Medianama, called it “out and out slander” in a post on X and said it “appears to be a clear violation of PCI guidelines,” referring to the Press Council of India’s norms. “Someone made a decision to run with this,” he added. The economic development consultant Salman Soz called the apology “worthless” and said there must be accountability, South First reported.
What ABP has not said is who approved a nine-second clip of a purported raid, where the footage came from, whether anyone will face action, or how it will answer a defamation case if Rathore files one. TEH could not reach ABP News, Ahuja or Rathore, and found no ABP statement beyond the apology as quoted by South First. Who decided to put her name on that caption?
