The Indian Journalists Union (IJU) on Thursday expressed serious concern over the trolling of Tongam Rina, Associate Editor of The Arunachal Times, and demanded legal action against online abusers at the earliest.
Expressing profound concern over the trolling of the Arunachal Pradesh-based journalist, the IJU demanded legal actions following filing of an FIR with the Crime Branch.
Ready for a challenge? Click here to take our quiz and show off your knowledge!
Rina is being trolled for an article she wrote on the alleged rise in cases of wildlife hunting in Arunachal Pradesh during the lockdown.
The article followed three video clips circulating on WhatsApp, in two of which, a man claims to have hunted a King Cobra because he couldn’t find any meat since the lockdown.
While the videos went viral and were sensationalised by two national TV channels, maligning the community, Rina’s article on April 18 had merely reported that state Forest Department had identified the three men in the video and were looking out for them for violating the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972.
Ready for a challenge? Click here to take our quiz and show off your knowledge!
Nowhere in the news report were any allegations made or any accusation of wrongdoing apart from what the men in the videos had claimed to have done.
However, she has been subjected to plethora of online abuse, hatred campaign and even threatened with physical violence on several posts.
In a statement issued on Thursday, IJU President Geetartha Pathak and Secretary General Sabina Inderjit, expressed solidarity with Rina and said such trolling is unacceptable in any civilised society.
The IJU joined hands with its affiliate — the Arunachal Pradesh Union of Working Journalists (APUWJ), the Arunachal Press Club (APC) and Arunachal Electronic & Digital Media Association (AEDMA) in condemning the online abuse.
The inflammatory headlines given by TV news channels, and not her article, would further ignite racist comments against students living outside the State, the IJU said.
Rina has filed an FIR under 506/509 IPC, reference with Section 67 of IT Act and Section 4 of the Indecent Representation of Women (Prohibition) Act with the SP SIT.
The IJU demanded that the hate mongers be arrested and put behind bars, to set an example that gender-based trolling would not be tolerated, and that attempts to silence a journalist, who has been at the forefront defending human and animal rights during her entire career, must be quelled
Rina has been seeking justice for the past eight years in a case of attempt to murder, when she was shot at in front of her office in 2012.