Media Role under Glare

MOLESTATION \\  A video clip showing a mob of men molesting a woman led to protests across the nation. The mob was led by a man called Amar Jyoti Kalita, who was arrested recently from Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh. In the clip, Kalita was spotted trying to rip off the shirt of the woman. Later he was joined by a mob who dragged and manhandled her. Days after the incident, RTI activist Akhil Gogoi claimed that the reporter of NewsLive TV, a channel that shot and aired the video, was the main culprit. “Gaurav Jyoti Neog and his friends were at the bar. They passed comments about the girls which led the brawl,” Gogoi said. “The reporter instigated his friends to assault the girl.” He alleged that Kalita, the main accused, was a friend of the reporter. “They went to the bar in the reporter’s Hyundai. They are being safeguarded by the channel owner,” he added. Gaurav Jyoti Neog was later arrested on charges of instigating the attack. The arrest came a day after the Guwahati High Court rejected his anticipatory bail plea. With Kalita’s arrest, 14 of the 17 identified in the incident have been put behind bars.