Fact Check: Viral video of Women Fight in Bus Is From Telangana, Not Andhra Pradesh Free Travel Scheme
Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandra babu naidu has announced that 47 lakh women travelled with zero fare tickets in
Telangana bus fight viral video
Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandra babu naidu has announced that 47 lakh women travelled with zero fare tickets in APSRTC buses in the past four days with savings upto Rs 19 crore. CM held a review meeting with the senior officials from APSRTC. He has given his consent to implement the free bus travel facility for women even in the ghat roads under the scheme and directed the officials to allow ID cards like Aadhaar either in photocopy or soft copy in DigiLocker app for women to avail the free bus facility. He instructed the officials to arrange display boards both inside and outside the RTC buses about the free bus travel scheme for the benefit of women to avail it.
Meanwhile, several old videos are in circulation relating them to this free travel scheme of APSRTC. One such video, showing women fighting inside an RTC bus, is circulating with the claim that it is linked to the free travel scheme in Andhra Pradesh.
The viral video is claimed to show the bus traveling from Vijayanagaram to Kottavalasa, in which the women started fighting for the bus seats. The caption in telugu goes as “ఏపీలో ఇటీవల ప్రారంభమైన ఉచిత బస్సు పథకం కారణంగా బస్సులో సీట్ల కోసం మహిళా ప్రయాణీకుల మధ్య గొడవ జరిగింది. విజయనగరం నుంచి కొత్తవలస వెళ్లే బస్సులో ఈ ఘటన చోటుచేసుకుంది”. When translated, it claims ” A fight broke out between female passengers for seats in a bus due to the recently launched free bus scheme in AP. The incident took place in a bus going from Vizianagaram to Kothavalasa.” In the video, we can see the women punching each other and also pulling each others hair, ignoring the kids beside them during the fight.
Here is the archive link of the claim.
Fact check:
The claim is False. The video is from January 2024 from Telangana state.
When we extracted the key frames from the video and searched using google reverse image search, we found that the video was posted by X account of a journalist on January 1, 2024 with the caption “Telangana govt offered #FreeBusTravelForWomen but not for free fight. Women fought over seats in the TSRTC bus during traveling from #Zaheerabad to #Sangareddy. #Telangana #telanganafreebus #TSRTC”
Another X account, Telugu Scribe, also shared the same video on January 1, 2024 with a Telugu caption “ఫ్రీ బస్ ఎఫెక్ట్!! జహీరాబాద్ నుండి సంగారెడ్డికి వస్తున్న ఆర్టీసీ బస్సులో సీట్ల కోసం గొడవ.. దారుణంగా కొట్టుకున్న మహిళలు.”
An X user shared the same video stating that it is an Old video of the fight that took place on an RTC bus in Zaheerabad – Sangareddy (Telangana) is viral with false claims,. Do not believe the rumours and rely on facts only.
Andhra Pradesh Fact check division also debunked the viral video.
We also found a news article published on Z news on January 2, 2024 which stated that the viral video captured an intense altercation among women inside a government bus in Telangana. The brawl, triggered by competition for free seats, unfolded during a journey from Zaheerabad to Sangareddy.
Therefore, the viral video is an old one showing the fight among women in a bus in Telangana in January 2024. The claim is False.