New Delhi
Had it not been for 27-year-old Navin Soorinje, a reporter with Kasturi Channel Newz 24 in Mangalore, and footage that he so generously shared with other channels, India would never have seen the images of what transpired behind the closed doors of"Morning Mist" homestay in Mangalore on the evening of July 28 this year.
It was a brutal attack that a group of self-appointed arbiters of societal mores belonging to the right-wing Hindu Jagarana Vedike let loose on an unsuspecting gathering of young men and women at the homestay. The appalling images of marauding hooligans mercilessly beating young men, and slapping, stripping and molesting women constitute a very strong body of evidence to proceed against the culprits. At what point the Mangalore police arrived on the scene is not clear, although there are several media reports quoting witnesses as saying that the police were present even as the attack was taking place, or were at the very least aware of the commotion going on, and could have intervened much earlier. On this matter, please see: Deccan Herald, The Hindu, The Hindu.
TIP-OFF
Having received a tip-off from a reliable source about a volatile gathering outside the homestay, Mr. Soorinje rushed to the spot with a cameraman. He recognised Subhash Padil, a prominent leader of the Hindu Jagarana Vedike. When he realised the motives of the gang, he tried several times to alert the jurisdictional police from the venue. When he failed, he alerted a counterpart from another channel, who also tried to call the jurisdictional police. No, he did not throw himself physically into the fight. That would have been foolhardy given the numbers against him. He did what any journalist would do in such a situation " he got his cameraman to film the outrage. Mr. Soorinje informed his colleagues of the attack and shared his footage with anyone who asked. In fact, the attack was first aired on a rival channel.
It therefore came as shock to Mr. Soorinje that his name was included in the First Information Report, dated July 28, as a participant in the attack. The charge sheet, filed on September 20, invokes sections of the CrPC that related to offences such as"rioting with deadly weapons," criminal conspiracy, unlawful assembly, and using criminal force on a woman with the intention of outraging her modesty. It also invokes Sections 3 and 4 of The Indecent Representation of Women (Prohibition) Act 1986.