Nearly four years after a case of molestation and assault was registered against three journalists from The Caravan magazine, Prabhjit Singh, one of the three journalists, was questioned by the Delhi police on Friday.
The case was registered on August 14, 2020, following a complaint by a woman from Subhash Mohalla in Northeast Delhi’s Gonda area. She alleged that journalists Parbhjit Singh and Shahid Tantray accompanied by their female colleague, pushed her, vitiated communal harmony between two communities, instigated another community by giving them money, and made lewd gestures towards a group of women, during a reporting assignment on August 11. The police registered the case under IPC sections 323 (punishment for voluntarily causing hurt), 354 (molestation), 153A (promoting enmity between religious groups) and 34 (criminal acts done by several persons in furtherance of common intention).
In a statement issued on Saturday, The Caravan termed the allegations “absolutely false and fabricated”. The magazine learnt of the FIR against the journalists last month, when a notice was sent by the police to Singh’s former residence.
On August 11, 2020, Singh had also filed a complaint against unknown people after a mob hurling communal slurs attacked and abused him and Tantray. One of the men in the mob identified himself as a BJP “general secretary”. A middle-aged man allegedly flashed at the female journalist. “Had I (Singh) not be there, the mob led by that saffron kurta clad man would have lynched Shahid for his Muslim identity,” read the FIR registered under IPC sections 323, 341 (punishment for wrongful restraint), 354, 506 (criminal intimidation), 34 (criminal acts done by several persons in furtherance of common intention).
The journalists were conducting a follow-up on alleged harassment and assault on a Muslim family by the local police. The three journalists, who were reporting on accusations against Bhajanpura police by a Muslim woman, are facing the case at the same police station. They were in Gonda for a follow-up story, after The Caravan published a story of alleged sexual assault and harassment of the woman and her 17-year-old daughter by Bhajanpura police.
“The woman had approached the police in early August 2020, after communal tensions arose in the area following the foundation-stone-laying ceremony of the Ram Temple at Ayodhya. Earlier that year, the woman in question had also filed a complaint regarding the Delhi violence of February 2020. The conduct of the police during the violence, especially towards Muslims, has come under serious question,” read The Caravan statement.
According to The Caravan, the attack lasted for one-and-a-half hours before police rescued the journalists. This was the time when Delhi was recovering from the communal riots in February 2020, and the northeast part of the city was on the edge.
The magazine said they would fully comply with the due process of law and challenge “false accusations”.
Different investigations, different pace
Incidentally, the police are yet to make any headway in the journalists’ assault case.
The Caravan questioned the delay in the journalists’ assault case. “We have learnt that the FIR against our staffers was lodged less than an hour before our FIR on the same day in 2020. It is worth noting here that although our complaints were filed on the day of the incident itself, the police did not register our FIR until three days later, on 14 August 2020. The police has informed us that our FIR is being considered a ‘counter FIR’.”
Caravan’s executive editor Hartosh Singh Bal said that no attempt has been made to investigate the case of journalists’ harassment and assault. “In the FIR against the journalists, the police have reached the stage where they have recorded testimonies and proceeded with inquiries against the journalists. The implications of this are straightforward. It’s an attempt to muzzle the press, facilitate harassment of journalists, and not act against attacks on the media,” he told Newslaundry.
“Put together, these details make clear that the naming of The Caravan’s journalists in a false and fabricated case is an attempt to muzzle their reporting. This is an outright attack on press freedom and a direct violation of the freedom of speech and expression,” the magazine’s statement further read.
The Press Club of India (PCI) also issued a statement condemning Delhi Police’s actions in this case and called their actions an attempt to suppress journalists and throttle press freedom. “It is extremely concerning that the police did not inform The Caravan of this FIR for four years. Most disturbing is the fact that the journalists who were reporting on allegations against the police were attacked and are now facing a serious FIR at the same police station. The same police has not followed up on the FIR by the Caravan journalists'', the PCI stated.
A police officer said the reason for little progress in FIR no. 488/2020 is that the case was filed against “unknown people”. The case was handed over to another investigating officer a week ago. Another reason for little progress is that the journalists couldn’t furnish details that could help police identify the suspects. “The journalists told us that they will share evidence, but we are yet to receive any. Police have visited the crime scene several times but could not find people matching the description of suspects,” said a police officer, adding that identification of unknown suspects seemed difficult as nearly four years had gone by.
In the FIR against the journalists, police will soon call Tantray and the female journalist for questioning. Police had sent notices to the two journalists to their old addresses, said a police officer. “Once we know their new addresses, we will send another notice and call them for questioning,” they said. After questioning both, police are likely to file a chargesheet. A police officer told Newslaundry that at least seven witnesses had recorded their statement against the journalists.
During questioning on Friday at Bhajanpura police station, Singh denied all allegations of provoking two communities, distributing money and using lewd gestures towards women. “All allegations are ridiculous. How can we do all of this when all of us were getting beaten up,” he told Newslaundry.
North East Delhi DCP Joy N Tirky has not replied to Newslaundry’s questions about not sharing a copy of the FIR with the journalists and lack of progress in another case. Bhajanpura SHO Narendra Kumar Sharma also refused to speak with us. If we receive any response from the police, it’ll be added to this report.
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