Chinese hail Indian TV host who read news of husband's death

11 Apr 2017 | Hindustan Times

Thousands of Chinese have praised the composure of Indian television anchor Supreet Kaur who learnt about her husband’s death in a road accident while talking to a reporter on live television but continued reading the news.

The news about Kaur with Chhattisgarh-based IBC-24 channel was widely picked up by Chinese media after China’s official news agency Xinhua reported it over the weekend.

Many media outlets from the mainland including People’s Daily (Chinese), the Communist party mouthpiece, state-controlled China Daily and Global Times besides Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post reported the news, hailing Kaur’s professional ethics.

It was also picked up by popular Chinese news portals following which users of Weibo, China’s Twitter, read the news and the video of her reading the news was widely circulated.

“The news anchor, Supreet Kaur, with channel IBC-24 in the Indian state of Chhattisgarh was told the information during a phone-in from a reporter about the details of a fatal car accident on Saturday morning in the state,” the Xinhua report said. “According to Kaur's colleagues, she realised that her husband was in the same vehicle in the accident at that moment, but she continued anchoring for another 10 minutes,” the report added.

Quoting Indian media, the report said: “The moment the cameras were off, she began calling her relatives and broke down. She left for the accident site after that.”

Most online users praised Kaur for her fortitude and hoped she would eventually get over the tragedy.

User ‘Soumns xiaolongxia’ said: “She really has the professional quality” to continue reading the news even after hearing the tragedy.

Another user ‘Best pepi_pjy’ wrote: “The anchor is devoted to her work so much.”

Weibo user ‘Lost star’ wrote: “I cried and felt really sad.”

And, user ‘Fisherman in Panyang’ said: “A strong woman. Hope she will get better.”

The South China Morning Post reported “amazing grace” was one of the many comments used to describe Kaur’s composure.

Quoting the World Health Organisation, it added a grim reminder that India’s roads are “among the world’s deadliest, with more than 200,000 fatalities each year.”

Some of the Chinese websites translated chief minister Raman Singh’s tweet, saluting Kaur’s courage: “Salute Supreet's strength in dealing with her husband's demise with extraordinary bravery & professionalism. May the departed soul rest in peace.”