The rape case which was reported from Hyderabad was brutal enough to shake the conscience of India. There are such cases which take place everyday, but some are so brutal that they make people seethe at the very thought of them.
The Quint, however, considered this a moment to make easy money. The story published recently by the portal is nothing short of psychotic behaviour.
That The Quint is ideologically inclined to the Left, even though it may not explicitly claim so, is a known fact. There have been numerous instances when on political and ideological issues, The Quint and TFI have locked horns, but what the portal has done now makes our stomachs turn in anger.
The Quint, in a story, profiled Mohammed, who is the accused no. 1 (A-1) in the Hyderabad rape case.
The reporter, Aishwarya S Iyer seems to have done a lot of hard work to cover this story, perhaps under editorial diktats of covering the family of the accused in a humane manner. Upon reading the piece, one is made to delve into the lives of the mother and father of Mohammed, and how their lives have now been paralyzed post the arrest of their son. The headline of the article reads: ‘I Killed Her’: Accused in Hyd Vet Doc’s Rape-Murder Told Parents
The parents were told by the accused that he ‘mistakenly’ killed a girl with his lorry. He did not reveal the other brutalities he inflicted upon her. The report states that the father of the accused has tired with age, and owing to a previous injury, is unable to work any longer. The mother, due to a uterine surgery can also by no means sustain the remaining family. The report further attempts to portray the accused as a hardworking man, who barely spent time with his family, and concentrated all his energies towards earning for them. For this very reason, the report claims, the accused spent not more than half an hour in a week at home. The neighbours of the family testified to this fact. The report also has images attached, with captions which are meant to idolize the accused, such as “While Mohammad was barely home, it was in this one-bedroom home in Jakkular village where he spent the last few hours sleeping, before the police picked him up.” In the entire article, the police is shown in bad light, as it ‘picks up’ the boy from his bedroom and separates him from his family. In totality, the report aims to humanize the accused and make the reader believe the statement of the accused to his parents: “I merely killed her.”
Meanwhile, Twitter was in no mood to accept this nuisance.
The hypocritic @TheQuint has published an article, sympathising with the situation of the accused, Mohammad, in the Hyderabad rape case.
Where is your feminism now? Quint is mocking the pain of Dr Priyanka Reddy and the countless other women.https://t.co/08Z4TAumvH pic.twitter.com/4bpsodwnCI— Hitesh Bansal (@ihiteshbansal) December 2, 2019
Ideally media should stay away from sensitive cases because it affects the course of justice but this piece by Quint is next level murder of ethical journalism. Full of subtle suggestions that accused killed the victim in an accident. Pathetic @TheQuint https://t.co/mtSbR1DQYW
— Monica (@TrulyMonica) December 2, 2019
Quint chose to profile and humanise only the Muslim rapist? Why?
— अंकित जैन (@indiantweeter) December 2, 2019
The Quint is not a name synonymous to ethics, leave alone journalism. There have been numerous instances where the portal has published all sorts of concocted and fabricated stories, to suit the whims and fancies of the editors, who are controlled like puppets by some ‘higher power’. Even if that is not the case this time, publishing a report of this nature catches eyeballs, and that fetches easy cash. The Quint has turned this sordid case of rape into one which can reap monetary benefits for them. This report was unnecessary, deranged and insensitive.
If at all, The Quint should have bothered to report on the horrors which the victim’s family must be going through.
However, the portal wanted to whitewash a rape accused to stand out in the media scene. And it has successfully done so. We feel pity for the organization, and the journalists who are working there. They definitely deserve better than working for a fanatical and sadistic media portal.
