Aaj Tak stringer fired after video reveals attempt to tutor child for news video

Days after a video showing Madhya Pradesh minister Kusum Mehdele kicking a boy in the head while he asked her for a rupee, another video has surfaced, this time showing a man with news channel Aaj Tak’s mic coaching the child what to say in front of the camera following the incident. [caption id=“attachment_2496532” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Screengrab from the video. YouTube[/caption] The video, which is doing rounds on social media, shows the man tutoring the child to ask the minister to pay for his education as he was mistreated. Reacting to the video, the news channel’s managing editor Rahul Kanwal tweeted out a statement saying the man in the video holding the mic is neither a reporter or a stringer for the network.

The person seen in this footage holding our mike ID is neither an AajTak reporter nor our stringer. The stringer acted out of his brief by involving his son in recording the clip in question. AajTak also wants to make clear that since the said clip did not meet our standards of due diligence, it was not aired on the channel. The contract of the stringer, Ravindra Vyas, has been terminated with immediate effect. AajTak firmly believes in setting the highest standards of work ethic for its employees and even non-employee associates like stringers. Whenever an act of misdemeanour is reported or noticed, swift and decisive action is taken.

But not everyone seems to be convinced. Although the statement says the person in question is not a “reporter nor our stringer”, but then goes on to say, “Ravindra Vyas, has been terminated with immediate effect”. What appears to have happened is that the man in the video is likely the son of Ravindra Vyas, who has been a stringer for the network and had access to an AajTak mic. As a result, AajTak has decided to terminate his contract. Here is the video in the question: