Journalist of www.baahrakhari.com news portal Keshav Saud has been beaten and manhandled by the police while covering news about scuffle between police and students at Sanepa, Lalitpur on February 24, 2019. Lalitpur district lies in Province 3 of Nepal.
According to journalist Saud police used batons and boots several times on him even after identifying himself as journalist.
"After police used force to disrupt the protesting student factions we (journalists) came out of the premises. But police started beating me with baton and boot with no reason. I showed my press card but they didn't stop," said Saud.
According to FF's representative for Province 3, Ashok Dahal, The police stopped only after two other journalists expressed objection to the police's manhandle against Saud.
Police used force after dispute between two student factions of Nepal Student Union (NSU) turned to scuffle. After the Nepali Congress (NC) mother party of the student wing deciding to impose age bar on the student union, two groups had protested in favor and against the proposal.
Later a police officer apologized for manhandling.
Freedom Forum condemns the incident as this is a violation of press freedom and urges the concerned authority to investigate the issue. Journalist should not be assaulted during the course of reporting. Also, a journalist should adopt safety measures such as wear press jacket or any other symbol to distinguish themselves while reporting in such an environment.
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Freedom Forum
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