Four years after being assaulted by a mob in Delhi, three journalists working with The Caravan have been booked for the charges of outraging the modesty of women and promoting communal enmity. The Caravan, in a statement, has stated that they were not informed of the first information report (FIR) which was filed in 2020 and a notice was sent to one of the journalists Prabhjit Singh by the Bhajanpura police station asking him to join an investigation.
In August 2020, journalists Shahid Tantray, Prabhjit Singh and a woman journalist were reporting in the North Ghonda neighbourhood of northeast Delhi, when they were attacked, subjected to communal slurs, threatened with murder, and sexually harassed. According to The Caravan, the journalists were taking photographs of saffron flags in the area, when some men, including one who identified himself as a ‘BJP general secretary’, allegedly attacked them. The journalists had immediately filed complaints at the Bhajanpura police station.
After close to four years, Prabhjit Singh received a notice from the Bhajanpura police asking him to join an investigation related to an FIR in which the three journalists were accused under serious sections such as 354 (outraging the modesty of a woman) and 153A (promoting communal enmity).
“We were not given a certified copy of the FIR against our staffers, citing its sensitive nature. 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 have informed us that our FIR is being considered a ‘counter FIR’,” The Caravan said in its statement.
Stating that the allegations are “false and fabricated” and an “attempt to muzzle their reporting”, the mediahouse said that it is an outright attack on press freedom and a direct violation of the freedom of speech and expression.
“We have joined the investigation and intend to comply fully with the due process of law. We will exercise our rights under the law to challenge these false accusations and have them dismissed,” they further added.