NLSIU Bangalore students resolved to petition the Press Council of India (PCI) on the unethical and sensationalist reporting of the alleged rape of a student of the college, by several newspapers last week. They also staged a protest demanding tighter security around their Nagarbhavi Bangalore campus.
On Saturday the Bangalore police arrested six of the eight alleged rapists who attacked the student in Bangalore University’s (BU) Jnanabharathi campus last Saturday. The detained persons confessed to having raped the student on 13 October. [Deccan Herald]
NLSIU students now plan to petition the governor of Karnataka demanding creation of the Nagarbhavi police station, increase in the number of police including women officers, deployment of policemen trained in handling crime against women, guarding of Bangalore University gates, installation of streetlights and creation of a police helpline.[TOI]
Last week Legally India reported on the victim-blaming tone adopted by the police, the media and BU throughout investigations into the incident, after BU threatened to evict NLSIU from its campus.
Comments
Moreover, I am certain that the media pressure generated by these papers goes a long way in motivating cops. That the alleged rapists were arrested after a quick and efficient investigation might be credited to their reporting.
Because when you spell out in excruciating details, all the conjecture and (now proven) falseties being spouted by police officers, instead of merely stating that the officers are casting doubts, the newspapers go beyond showing the attitude of the officers. Repeating the conjecture and falseties, couched with vague qualifiers, often reinforces the impression in the minds of the public that the victim is not to be trusted.
This has been shown to the case in a number of high profile incidents, especially the Aarushi Talwar murder, where the media's role in repeating everything released by competing law enforcement agencies/ officers has been repeatedly questioned.