What has come as a shock and regrettable realization for media persons working sincerely in the state, two of their women members were physically assaulted and abused while taking details of an accident in Papu Nallah area along the NH 52A on Sunday evening.
Appu Gapak and Nyapi Bomjen, journalists working with The Sentinel Arunachal, while on their way to Naharlagun from Itanagar came across an accident just after crossing the box-cutting (few meters away from the Dree Ground) at about 8 pm.
Seeing a white Maruti Zen (AS-O1M-9266) precariously hanging on the edge of the road and a crowd gathered around it, they halted their two-wheeler and went on to enquire. As they were noting down the registration number of the car and captured a few photographs, a person from the crowd suddenly challenged them.
When they introduced themselves as journalists, the person objected and started abusing in a language not befitting to any individual, least of all to women. Sensing trouble, both Appu and Nyapi assured the agitated person that they would not file any report on the accident if that was troubling him. This, however, did not convince the �unknown� person.
�As we were leaving, the person suddenly attacked us, tore our note-sheets and threw away a mobile phone. Not satisfied, he even hit us and tried to push one of us into the roadside gorge,� said Appu.
What pained the young journalists more was the silence of most of the spectators present at the site.
�No one, except a few, tried to help us or pacify the attacker. Literally, we had to run away from the place in humiliation,� added Nyapi, who thanked the few civilized people who prevented the attacker from chasing them.
The press fraternity under the umbrella of Arunachal Pradesh Union of Working Journalists (APUWJ) and Arunachal Press Club (APC) taking strong exception to the humiliation and assault on the journalists while on duty had lodged a written complaint with the local police station late on Sunday night.
However, both the organizations served a 48-hour ultimatum today to the authorities to nab the person(s) involved in the assault.
Appealing all aware citizens and civil society organizations to raise their voice against the act and impress upon the law enforcing authorities to nab the perpetrator and implicate him under relevant sections of the law, both the organizations appealed all to change their mindset when it comes to media persons, especially women.
�It is the attitude and mindset of the people that has to change for an evolving and civilized society where the media can play a constructive role and women can live without fear and discrimination,� an APC release stated today.
The organizations expressed anger on repeated attacks on the fourth estate and regretted that in most cases culprits are let off and cases never solved, which in turn encourage repeated and unmindful attacks on journalists. They said that the media fraternity would decide on its next course of action if the person(s) involved are not arrested within the stipulated time.
Officer in-Charge, Naharlagun, Inspector T Susen, while pacifying the agitated members of APUWJ and APC including both the victims, assured to nab the attacker, who is yet to be identified. The police, however, have taken into custody one Venkata Lakshmipati Raju, production manager of SMS Smelter, who was driving the vehicle and who, according to Appu and Nyapi, was interacting with the attacker on the spot.
Police have registered a case No 153/10 u/s 341/323/354/427/506/509 IPC and launched an investigation.
Meanwhile, Additional District Magistrate Talo Potom today remanded Raju to 24-hour police custody and directed the police to produce him in court at 1 pm on Tuesday.