Reporters Without Orders Ep 186: A year after Hathras gangrape

This week, host Nidhi Suresh is joined by Arun Singh of NDTV and Akanksha Kumar of Newslaundry.

The panel talks about their experience reporting on the Hathras case, where a 19-year-old Dalit woman was gangraped last September in Uttar Pradesh’s Hathras. She died soon after and her body was forcibly cremated by the Uttar Pradesh police. Four Thakur men have been arrested so far, and the trial is ongoing.

Arun recalls being at the crime scene and wonders how the case received widespread attention, saying it “exposed reality on so many levels”. Nidhi asks if it’s because of the way the woman’s body was cremated, and Arun says, “Definitely. I think it became what it became because of that incident as well.”

Akanksha talks about her interactions with the woman’s parents. She adds that a “common refrain” from the victim’s father and brother was how they’d tried to reach out to the media but “no one is hearing us”. Nidhi remembers that TV channels at the time were focusing on the Sushant Singh Rajput case.

This and a lot more as they talk about what made news, what didn’t, and what shouldn’t have.

Tune in.

Recommendations

Arun

माई तेनु फिर मिलंगि

Akanksha

Kanshiram: Leader of the Dalits by Badri Narayan

Nidhi

Almost Famous: The First Report

Produced by Yusra Hasan, edited by Satish Kumar.