Rajesh Prasad Barma, Siraha correspondent of The Himalayan Times (THT), on January 30, Friday received threat to his life from an anonymous caller. Siraha is Tarai district located in the southern plain of Nepal. According to Barma, he received the call from an Indian number (91624627533) at around 3:30 pm. The caller, who spoke in Maithali, threatened to murder him if he did not leave Siraha within a week.
The THT scribe was told that he would meet a more violent end than slain radio journalist Uma Singh if he did not pay heed to the warning. "The caller did not spell out the reason behind the threat. Neither did he bother to introduce himself," said Barma, who has lodged a complaint with the police and district administration.
Terming this incident a serious threat to journalists in the Tarai region due to their works, Freedom Forum deplores the rising incidents of death threats issued to media workers. The developing situation in Tarai requires strong and focused efforts to protect journalists and ensure workable environment where healthy journalism prevails and right to freedom of expression could fully be entertained.
For more information,
Freedom Forum
monitoring@freedomforum.org.np
01-4102030/ 4102022