The Editors Guild of India issued a statement condemning the Uttar Pradesh government and state Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath for preventing journalists from reporting on developments of the Hathras rape case.
“The Editors Guild of India condemns the manner in which the law enforcement agencies of the Uttar Pradesh government, led by Yogi Adityanath, have prevented media persons from reporting on developments in and around Hathras after a brutal assault on a woman leading to her death and the hurried cremation of her body by the authorities without the presence of the family of the deceased,” the statement, which was released on Sunday, said.
Social media was buzzing with reports of a media blockade by the Uttar Pradesh police. ANI reported that the blockade was put in place by a Special Investigation Team (SIT), that was probing the matter ,and barred entry to media persons and members of Trinamool Congress to avoid influence on the case or the family.
SIT टीम अंदर है, जांच चल रही है। जांच किसी तरह से प्रभावित न हो इसलिए दिशानिर्देश हैं और किसी को भी अंदर जाने की अनुमति नहीं है: तृणमूल कांग्रेस के प्रतिनिधिमंडल को हाथरस बोर्डर पर रोकने पर प्रेम प्रकाश मीणा, SDM हाथरस pic.twitter.com/yvq2bgUlXX
— ANI_HindiNews (@AHindinews) October 2, 2020
Calling it “reprehensible”, the statement called out the government’s tactic of tapping into telephones of journalists present in Hathras. “Worse, the tapped conversation of the journalists has been selectively leaked, leading to a social media calumny against them.”
The committee demanded “that the government creates conditions in Hathras that do not obstruct journalists in any way.”
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“Such attacks against the media are becoming part of a growing trend seen in recent months, in which a few other state governments have also indulged in such harassment of journalists.”
On September 14, a 19-year old Dalit woman was gang raped by four upper-caste men in Hathras district of Uttar Pradesh. She succumbed to her injuries on September 29 and was cremated by the Uttar Pradesh police in the dead of the night, without informing the girl’s family.
Protests broke out across the nation, with public figures condemning the act on social media.