Since January 8, 2015, Kavita, editor of Khabar Lahariya, a local language newspaper in rural Uttar Pradesh, has been inundated with lewd and threatening calls. Going by the name 'Nishu', the caller seemed to know the whereabouts of Kavita's colleagues as well, and has been reportedly harassing the women journalists frequently with lascivious calls, leaving them shaken.
In a first person account of her ordeal to The Ladies Finger, Kavita said that every attempt made by the team to get help from the police did not yield much result. After placing a complaint with the Women's Helpline, when she attempted to file an FIR, the policemen at the Banda police station allegedly took turns to speak to the stalker on the phone and even tried to dismiss the case by offering solutions like changing her number and asking the men in her house to abuse the stalker. But they persisted and finally two FIRs - in Banda and Chitrakoot police stations - as well as a complaint in Mahoba were registered. However, the calls did not stop.
Instead, Kavita was reportedly asked to recount in explicit detail what the stalker spoke about, by Anirudh Prasad Pande, an Inspector at the Crime Branch in Banda. "Tell me which gaalis, and how he would say them? Whatever he would say on the phone, repeat that for me," he reportedly said.
While the team has been running from pillar to post from the last eight months, requesting for some progress in the investigation, the huge uproar on social media following Kavita's account, seems to have finally woken up the system. Kavita told dna that she has been getting calls from various police departments regarding the issue now.
Last year, in the backdrop of the Badaun and Azamgarh incidents, when a female reporter questioned Uttar Pradesh CM Akhilesh Yadav on the law and order situation in the state, he had retorted, "I hope you have not faced any danger!"
Let's hope he has a better response this time for the resilient women of the Khabar Lahariya team, who have been battling several social odds while doing their job.
Also Read - Khabar Lahariya: Women lead rural reportage
