A group of journalists was misbehaved with while reporting in Parsa, a district in Madhesh Province of Nepal.
According to journalist Jiya Lal Sah from Parsa, six journalists—Raju Baitha (yatradaily.com), Santosh Kumar Kushwaha (racekhabar.com), Arohan Sah (choicekhabar.com), Rakesh Kumar Sah (Sagarmatha Television), and Anand Patel (prateekdainik.com)—were mistreated by a public health officer during their coverage of a program organized by the District Health Office on July 7.
Health Officer Jay Mod Thakur verbally abused the journalists and even attempted to attack them, as reported by Sah. Police persons intervened and controlled the situation. Following the incident, the journalists lodged a complaint at the District Administration Office demanding Thakur’s arrest. He was arrested the same day. On July 8, Health Officer Thakur issued an apology to the journalists and both the parties mutually agreed to close the case.
Freedom Forum condemns the incident. If the officer had any complaints, he should have addressed them peacefull. Abusing journalists while they are on duty is a serious violation of press freedom.
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