Reporter at Saurya Online, Ram Bikash Chaudhary was abused and threated through social media over a news report on May 8. The incident took place in Rupandehi, Lumbini Province.
Reporter Chaudhary shared with Freedom Forum that he had published a news story on April 28 about the repeated sexual harassment of a 17-year old girl at a local school. In the report, he mentioned that a teacher at Shrimati Manraajidevi Secondary School allegedly threatened and raped a minor student on the school premises. The story with Chaydhary's byline further stated that although the school's Principal Hridayaram Yadav was aware of the incident, no action was taken against the accused teacher.
Following publication of the news, Principal Yadav and two other individuals posted abusive messages against Chaudhary on social media and threatened him with legal action.
Reporter Chaudhary then, filed a complaint with the cybercrime department of Nepal Police on May 11 seeking strict legal action against Principal Yadav and Facebook users Manoj Yadav and Aryan Yadav under cybercrime charges.
Freedom Forum condemns the intimidation towards the reporter. The concerned individuals are urged to approach Press Council Nepal for the concern over published content rather than threatening a journalist. The security authority is further urged to fairly investigate upon the case.
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