Should the police inform the media about a crime in such a way that it may lead to the character assassination of a woman victim? Can a police officer narrate the scene according to an accused individual’s version with no proper investigation? Should not the man in uniform maintain minimum decency while talking about a mother in front of live cameras? Many such questions are being asked following the incident of a murder in Goalpara district of Assam. Jonali Nath, a local leader of ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), was found murdered on 11 June and her body was recovered from Krishnai locality on National Highway 17. Hailing from Matia village, Ms Nath was serving the saffron party as its district secretary. The police promptly arrested a young businessman named Hasanur Islam, who was tracked following a number of cellphone calls with the victim in the last few weeks. Meanwhile, Hasanur confessed that he killed the lady for personal reasons. He also developed a love & hate story with the victim, a mother of two daughters. Even Hasanur went ahead with the theory that he was planning for his marriage, which she opposed. Thus they had a confrontation on 11 June evening and it resulted in her death following a punch by him inside his vehicle.
The story was narrated by a senior Assam police officer to the media and his way of expression was slammed by many individuals in social media. The social media users criticised the officer for speaking the language of the accused. Expressing dismay over the incident and its subsequent narration by the officer, a forum of nationalist citizens in northeast India urged the police department to direct its officials for dedicating more time, space and energy in the probe rather than engaging in the practice of storytelling in front of the media. Reacting to Ms Nath’s killing and subsequent media briefing by the inspector general of police (IGP) Debraj Upadhyay, the Patriotic People’s Front Assam (PPFA) exclaimed that ‘there should be a limit of irresponsibility and personal shame when a police officer explains the love affairs of a deceased mother’. In a statement, the forum questioned, ‘how Upadhyay became so confident that the accused spoke the truth, while the victim was not alive to defend herself?’ The PPFA claimed that anyone found guilty in a crime may speak motivated words to influence the probe in his/her favour. In that case, why did the responsible police officer try to narrate the story following the line of the accused ? Has he found all the convincing details about the murder so instantly? Or did he use his oratory skill to safeguard the accused for reasons best known to him? The forum appealed to State chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, also in charge of home portfolio, to look into the matter seriously, if Upadhyay deliberately tried to justify the murder (because the lady had a two-year long extra marital relationship with Hasanur!). Meanwhile, the victim’s husband Chandra Kumar Nath filed a first information report (FIR) against Upadhyay (employed with the criminal investigation department of State police) for his remark against Ms Nath at Matia police station. Even the State police chief GP Singh, who visited the victim’s family, expressed dissatisfaction over Upadhyay’s unwanted comments. Singh admitted that the words of Upadhyay were defamatory to the family in the society. He even begged apology for Upadhyay’s insensitive remarks against Ms Nath on behalf of the police department.
Another shocking part of the incident was the way many media outlets reported the incident directly following the police version. With no minimum sensitivity and responsibility, some media persons even asked the victim’s family members about their reaction to Hasanur’s revelation. The way some journalists are looking for attractive news out of a murder is really pathetic. The local news channels continued telecasting the same versions repeatedly only to malign the victim’s family only. But most of them did not dare to go to Hasanur’s family to get their reactions to the incident. A cowardice behaviour indeed. Let’s Ishwar save Assam electronic media outlets!
Nava Thakuria
