Authors
Vasudha noticed the growing problem of mis/disinformation online after studying New Media at ACJ in Chennai and became interested in separating facts from fiction. She is interested in learning how global issues affect individuals on a micro level. Before joining Newschecker’s English team, she was working with Latestly.
A video showing a salwar kameez clad woman knocking down a female wrestler inside a boxing ring is going viral on social media platforms. Those sharing the video claim that a woman from Tamil Nadu accepted an open challenge by a Pakistani lady boxer in Dubai and pinned her down in no time. Newschecker found the claim to be untrue.
Several social media users shared the video with the caption “A Pakistani lady boxer after winning the match in Dubai challenged with pride for any one from India to come forward to defeat her. A Spectator lady Vijaya Lakshmi from Tuthukudi (Thoothukudi) in Tamil Nadu freely moved to boxing ring with determination and accepted the roaring challenge. See (sic)”
Links to such posts can be seen here, here, here and here.
Also Read: Viral Video Claiming Arabs Celebrated India’s Asia Cup Win Over Pakistan Is Edited
Fact Check/Verification
Newschecker conducted Google reverse image searches on the key frames of the viral clip which led us to a report by Deccan Chronicle, dated June 17, 2016, with the title ‘Video: Salwar kameez-clad Punjabi woman knocks down pro wrestler in fierce fight.’ Displaying screen grabs from the viral video, the report elaborated on how “a young woman clad in a yellow salwar-kameez” pinned down female wrestler BB Bull Bull “within minutes’ ‘. The report identified the woman to be a former Haryana police officer named Kavita who is also a power-lifting and mixed martial arts champion. There was no mention of any India vs Pakistan situation, as widely claimed.
On a closer look at the video, we could spot hoardings featuring The Great Khali’s pictures and text “CWE” written on them in several frames of the video. CWE is a Jalandhar-based wrestling academy launched by Khali.
Taking a clue, we further conducted a keyword search for “BB Bull Bull Vs Kavita CWE” on Google which yielded an article by DNA, dated September 30, 2017, titled ‘Watch: India’s first professional woman wrestler, BB Bull Bull knocked down by former MMA champion Kavita.’ Featuring a screengrab from the viral video, the report stated that BB Bull Bull, who is the first professional woman wrestler from India was knocked down by former Haryana police officer, power-lifting and MMA champion Kavita during a duel at the hub of Continental Wrestling Entertainment (CWE) in Jalandhar (Punjab). Notably, the link to the YouTube video embedded in the article was broken.
We found several reports on the duel between professional wrestler BB Bull Bull and the salwar kameez clad woman Kavita, featuring snippets and screenshots of the viral video. You can see such reports here, here and here.
Newschecker continued the investigation to know more about BB Bull Bull and Kavita, and came across an article by The Telegraph on Khali’s CWE titled ‘The big fight.’ The report elaborated on the academy and its students. It also mentioned Sarbjit Kaur and Kavita Devi, “the women wrestlers who impressed the scouts with their style,” adding that Kaur goes by the ring name of BB Bull Bull while the latter is known as Hard KD.
The report further added that some matches, like the one between Hard KD and BB Bull Bull have gone viral. In the video, BB Bull Bull challenges the crowd and Kavita, emerges, clad in a salwar-suit, -likely referring to the viral video. “Here, the challenge is to make everything entertaining,” says Kavita.
Sarbjit Kaur aka BB Bull Bull has been identified as India’s first female pro wrestler. Her interview on PTC Punjabi can be seen here.
Kavita Devi is the first Indian woman to compete in the World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE). In a video posted by WWE India official’s Twitter handle, Devi herself confirmed that she hails from Haryana, quashing the false claim that she belonged to Tamil Nadu and some media reports calling her “Punjabi women.”
Thus we conclude that both the women seen in the viral video are Indian and the Salwar kameez-clad woman is actually Kavita Devi from Haryana.
Conclusion
Viral posts claiming to show a Pakistani lady boxer being knocked down by a salwar kameez clad woman from Tamil Nadu are false.
Result: False
Sources
Report By Deccan Chronicle, Dated June 17, 2016
Report By DNA, Dated September 30, 2017
Facebook Post By PTC Punjabi, Dated February 5, 2020
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Authors
Vasudha noticed the growing problem of mis/disinformation online after studying New Media at ACJ in Chennai and became interested in separating facts from fiction. She is interested in learning how global issues affect individuals on a micro level. Before joining Newschecker’s English team, she was working with Latestly.
