Posted:
http://storify.com/barbarindian/girl-stripped-then-the-cover-up-began
Girl stripped. Then the cover up began.
In Guwahati, a girl was molested, stripped, brutalized with cigarette burns for about an hour by a crowd of at least 20, outside a pub, even as a media crew continued filming. When the footage went viral, some four days later, a sordid drama unfolded.
- Desicomments6 hours ago
This was the genuine first reaction of a mother of a young girl:
- Sickening disgusting video of sexual assault in Guwahati. Who on earth recorded the video? Why did he/she not help the girl?Sagarika Ghose2 days agoReplyRetweet
- The grinning nauseating apes pawing and groping the girl on a Guwahati street must be arrested and sent to jail for life.Sagarika Ghose2 days agoReplyRetweet
- Deeply upset. We call ourselves a superpower? We rejoice at growth rates? When young women are publicly attacked and humiliated as sport?Sagarika Ghose2 days agoReplyRetweet
By this time, people were beginning to question why did the media crew not intervene or help. It clearly looked like they weren't even trying. But by this time, Sagarika Ghose had regained her composure. The mother had been pushed behind by the journalist and political hack:
- Courageous of cameramen to shoot Guwahati's horror.Fact that camera on them shd have deterred the thugs. Incredible that they carried on..Sagarika Ghosea day agoReplyRetweet
- Where does duty of a reporter/ cameraperson lie? To report a crime/war or to try and prevent it? Journos must report, they are not policeSagarika Ghosea day agoReplyRetweet
Is that really what had happened? A brutal mob continued attacking the girl while brave cameramen filmed at the risk of being harmed themselves?
The real story was actually quite different.The girl had gone to the pub with her friends. There was a fracas of some sort in the pub itself, but they left the pub. A photo journalist from News Live Assam (whose crew eventually shot the entire attack), Gauravjyoti Neog, was present at the pub along with a Youth Congress worker, Amarjyoti Kalita who is close to the state Youth Congress president Pijush Hazarika .
News Live Assam is owned by wife of Assam Congress Health Minister, Riniki Bhuyan Sarma. Her brother Atanu Bhuyan is the current editor-in-chief.
Once the girl came out with her friends, the youth was apparently filming them. This led to a confrontation. The cameraman then initiated the molestation and instigated a crowd which had by then gathered there. Meanwhile, they had also called their news offices who sent more crew. By the time the crew arrived, it appears that they had decided to "profit" from the video footage.
Clearly the crowd could act brazenly because they probably thought they had the protection of a Congress mouthpiece powerful TV channel and also member(s) of Youth Congress.
The "non-intervention due to possible physical harm" argument is further weakened because an . It was Mukul Kalita's account that further proves the attackers had powerful political connections. THEY PREVENTED THE POLICE FROM TAKING AWAY THE GIRL and CONTINUED TO MOLEST HER. That's how brazen they were.
Now, let's take a look at Atanu Bhuyan (editor-in-chief, News Live, Assam) to understand just how shamelessly and brazenly the incident was exploited. The video went viral or four days while Bhuyan gloated and counted TRPs.- Coming up at 7pm. Horrifying video of some youths trying to gangrape two girls in Ghyatanu bhuyan5 days agoReplyRetweet
- TRP : ramdhenu : 25.35, prime news : 26.69, newstime assam : 25.82, dy 365 : 154.69, rang : 169.79 and newslive 270.76atanu bhuyan4 days agoReplyRetweet
- I've uploaded an @YouTube video youtu.be/XqqY1LVd2aw?a girl in city part 1atanu bhuyan4 days agoReplyRetweet
- Mainstream news channels are flooding me with phone calls asking for the footage of the molestation incidentatanu bhuyan3 days agoReplyRetweet
- Prostitutes form a major chunk of girls who visit bars and night clubsatanu bhuyan5 days agoReplyRetweet
- The girl who was molested in Ghy had lied that she was a teenager. She is in fact a married woman and even has a daughter a local tv claimedatanu bhuyan2 days agoReplyRetweet
Next day, the drama continued and took a bizarre turn.
- BREAKING: The girl molested on Monday in Guwahati has been kidnapped by Youth Congress members, led by Congress minister Akon Bora.Raju Das|???? ???a day agoReplyRetweet
- Along with Mosumi, youth congress members led by minister Akon Bora also kidnaped Dimpi, her friend: TV Report.Raju Das|???? ???a day agoReplyRetweet
- More W*F News on another Assamese channel, Frontier TV, girl molested in Guwahati is not teen, but divorced mother, even name is different.Raju Das|???? ???a day agoReplyRetweet
By this time, the news of Youth Congress involvement had gone viral with Tehelka and several news websites (including IBN Hindi) reporting involvement of Congress and complicity of the Congress owned TV channel.
News of Youth Congress involvement caused wannabes and charlatans to jump in. Though tweets were deleted, but essentially this lady was all sarcasm at the news of the "kidnap". Upon being confronted, she used the bogey of "naming the victim" and continued hyperventilating on that. No mention of Youth Congress still.- @rajudasonline sorry. someone posted a link to that - but i didn't see tv report. my apologies...calamura day agoReplyRetweet
- @barbarindian neither do I . u want to make a 15 year old the focal point of political points. and i will call you out on that.calamura day agoReplyRetweet
- @barbarindian naming her is attacking her . ... alleging a kidnap is not..calamura day agoReplyRetweet
- @barbarindian and yours is a call to attack... the girl and any woman who stands up for her... so please spare me the hypocrisy.calamura day agoReplyRetweet
On ground tweeple Raju Das further elaborated the full import of the "naming issue" and also posted a video of the News Times TV report on the "kidnap":
- Assamese TV report that Youth Congress kidnapped the molested girl: youtu.be/QL8sl4ZR7GE If its false, blame the shit media, not me.Raju Das|???? ???a day agoReplyRetweet
- @NilimDutta Her face was blurred in the interview, but she agreed about her name & refuted the news that her name is something else.Raju Das|???? ???19 hours agoReplyRetweet
- . @NilimDutta And she is forced to re-iterate her name on air because Atanu Bhuyan & others claimed she is someone else, divorced & mother.Raju Das|???? ???19 hours agoReplyRetweet
By now, involvement of the news channel reporter with his Youth Cong buddy in initiating and instigating the attack was all over twitter:
- NewsLive reporters plotted n executed #Guwahati mob molestation,proofs on air at TVchnnel DY365.Instigated d mob 2strip her. @northeastblogAnkita Saikiaa day agoReplyRetweet
- "the allegation in Assam is that people now call in television crews before beating up someone, be it a man or woman." telegraphindia.com/1120714/...manju joglekar13 hours agoReplyRetweet
By this time, RTI activist Akhil Gogoi went on TV with video proof of how the attack started. The "kidnap" issue was also beginning to get cleared up. It looks like a Congress friendly NCW team headed by Alka Lamba (former NSUI) and Assam Social services minister whisked the girl away to an unknown location to prevent media people from getting the true story. Needless to say, NCW would later issue a sanitized version which will exonerate the TV channel (owned by Congress) and involvement of Youth Congress.
- The original news and the little victim girl now on FrontierTV saying that the video n harassment took place for around 1 hr @northeastblogAnkita Saikia21 hours agoReplyRetweet
- Sad part is tht versions of the spokesperson of the team from center also sounds slightly influenced.wonder who might hv narrated her d sagaAnkita Saikia18 hours agoReplyRetweet
- Reports showed that police misled the Women Team from Center in giving them the address of that victim @northeastblog #GuwahatiAnkita Saikiaa day agoReplyRetweet
Having been completely exposed and caught unguarded, the bogey of DO NOT POLITICIZE was invoked.
- @barbarindian If everything is viewed through the prism of party politics, what happens to us as a society and as a country?Malini Parthasarathy14 hours agoReplyRetweet
- STOP making #Guwahati molestation case a political issue.Its a shame that such an incident happened.Guilty needs to be identified & punishedBinalakshmi Nepram13 hours agoReplyRetweet
The second one is a coopted creature as proven by this tweet:
- Returning home from office after going live at India at 9 with @sardesairajdeep. Its 10.10 pm and I hope I return home safe.Good night IndiaBinalakshmi Nepram2 days agoReplyRetweet
Needless to say, after this, the intensity of secular faux outrage fell off a cliff. We examine some of the hilarious ones:
BARKHA DUTT Before:- SuperPower Ha! From Panchayats that ban mobiles for women to the creeps who molested a girl in Guwahati- where is our civilisational core?barkha dutt2 days agoReplyRetweet
BARKHA DUTT After:
- Activist Akhil Gogoi says he's handed cops footage that shows an off duty reporter from Newslive at assault venue sitting with molestorsbarkha dutta day agoReplyRetweet
- Let's keep our eye on the big picture. 50 men sexually assaulted a teen in public view. Only 4 arrests so far. Find the creeps. Jail thembarkha dutt20 hours agoReplyRetweet
Ah, boring, let's get back to original programming.
- Jo na jaane Haq kie takat,Rab na deve usko himmat #CokeStudiobarkha dutta day agoReplyRetweet
Sagarika Ghose went back to movies and stuff:
- Just saw Gangs Of Wasseypur. Reminded me of The Godfather set in coal mines of DhanbadSagarika Ghose14 hours agoReplyRetweet
- Deeply inspired by The Godfather yet the talented Anurag Kashyap has made a very watchable movie #gangsofWasseypurSagarika Ghose13 hours agoReplyRetweet
'Elected' Youth Congressi Priyanka Chaturvedi was vacationing in Goa with kids: Wheee!
- Going GOOAAA! By road. A first with the kids :) so far so good with kids at their best behaviour :DPriyanka Chaturvedi3 days agoReplyRetweet
But that did not prevent her from a little office work:
- @slatmike since you asked abt feedback abt the Goa CM--here's what I am reading rt now---Rape tops list of crimes in Goa in the past 4 mths.Priyanka Chaturvedia day agoReplyRetweet
The lady went to a Bollywood party:
- at the launch of it's cinema. A magazine that looks at the technicians. R r patil. Madhuri dixtit herecalamur16 hours agoReplyRetweet
Rajdeep Sardesai mostly stayed away, perhaps he has a better nose than the other toadies:
- fan of Anurag Kashyap. Loved Black Friday. GOW falls a bit short. maybe the script? look forward to part 2.Rajdeep Sardesai14 hours agoReplyRetweet
To summarize:
1. In Guwahati, a reporter from a Congress leader owned TV channel & his Youth Cong buddy pick up a fracas with a young girl at a pub
2. They instigate crowds then call their TV channel.
3. A large number of locals gather and start brutalizing the girl
4. The TV crew arrived and continued filming, at one point removing the locks of the girl from in front of her face for better shots
5. A courageous local daily editor stops and helps the girl, also calls the cops.
6. Upon reaching home, this daily editor is shocked that live footage from the scene still showing the attacker at it and preventing police from taking away the girl.
7. News Live continued to exploit the footage (heavily edited) for several days, NO action is taken by police.
8. Video goes viral. A national outcry starts which leads to arrest of ONLY FOUR of the perps.
9. Assam Congress whisks away the girl, News Live continues to spread rumors about her being a divorcee etc.
10. With the girl safely away and a friendly NCW team, the whole incident is sanitized and served in hot tasty proportions palatable for people who have largely lost their conscience and can not digest the truth.
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