After media personnel barred from entering the Hathras village for the last couple of days, permission was granted to media houses to visit the village. Though the completion of the SIT probe was the reason behind the permission granted to the media professionals to enter the village, an overwrought Aaj Tak journalist hysterically claimed it as “victory of reportage”.
Frantically running towards the village while periodically gasping for air, the Aaj Tak reporter Chitra Tripathi claimed that the administration was under pressure because of the growing number of media professionals gathered outside the village.
मीडिया को मिली पीड़िता के गांव में जाने की इजाजत। देखिए @chitraaum की रिपोर्ट। #HathrasCase #MeriBhiBetiHai
— AajTak (@aajtak) October 3, 2020
Live: https://t.co/fOz5QPkk43 pic.twitter.com/uE1ZYyppal
“The administration was under intense pressure from the media organisations who had congregated around the border of the village. The DM thought that the media crowd will thin out in a couple of days. But, instead, it only grew thicker in the past two days. Caving under the immense pressure, the administration today allowed the media professionals covering the story to enter the village. What was the truth that was being hidden from the media?” Aaj Tak journalist said.
“This has happened (lifting of Section 144) because of Aaj Tak’s relentless coverage of the Hathras incident, our interviews with the victim’s family and our fight for securing justice for the victim girl,” the journalist said.
Section 144 lifted from Hathras after the completion of SIT probe
Earlier on Thursday, the police had put up barricades at about 2 km from the village on the main road, blocking off all access paths to the village. However, on Saturday, the authorities in Uttar Pradesh’s Hathras reopened the sealed borders and said that they will allow the media to enter the village.
“Since SIT probe in the village is complete, the restriction on media has been lifted. More than five media persons are now allowed to gather as Section 144 of CrPC is in place,” Prem Prakash Meena, Sadar senior divisional magistrate, was quoted as saying by news agency ANI.
India Today activates panic mode after OpIndia reported leaked conversation between its journalist and Hathras victim’s brother
The mainstream media’s questionable coverage of the Hathras incident came under the spotlight after OpIndia had yesterday reported a leaked conversation between India Today journalist and the Hathras victim’s brother where the journalist, Tanushree Pandey, was seen pleading with the victim’s brother to shoot and send a video of the father alleging that the UP administration was putting pressure on his.
After the OpIndia report, India Today, the sister channel of Aaj Tak, had gone into a panic mode, releasing an “Important and Urgent” statement on Twitter in which they seemed to be hyperventilating after creating an imaginary story about their journalist’s or the victim’s brother’s phone being tapped. They demanded to know why and under what law were their phones being tapped.
It is notable to mention here that India Today is not aware of the source of this audio and the audio itself could have been leaked from any quarter. However, India Today has jumped to the conclusion of phone tapping.
