Publisher and Executive Editor with Pratikshan daily Iqbal Ahmad and Pramod Yadav respectively were spoken foul while asking for information on a rape case on July 24 over phone. Sunsari lies in province 1 of Nepal.
Talking to Freedom Forum, Editor Ahmad said, "From the editing desk I called Nepal Police Spokesperson at district DSP Pravin Dhital to be confirm and gather information on recent two rape cases occurred in different places of Sunsari district on Friday and Saturday. In response, Dhital presented himself aggressively on phone, saying: "Where is your location? Why do you want to write news?" He also spoke offensive words.
DSP Dhital repeated similar verbal abuse with Editor Pramod Yadav, when the latter called to know about the same case later, added Ahmad.
National Information Commission's Commissioner, and Eastern Regional Police Chief were informed about the incident.
However, responding to the media persons' complaints on difficulty in receiving information, Sunsari Police is in preparation to appoint deputy spokesperson to ensure smooth flow of information.
Freedom Forum condemns misbehaviour meted out to journalists. As media persons are ultimate persons to relay information to citizens, reluctance of supply side of information and their offensive behavior is press freedom violation. Hence, FF urges concerned authority to immediately address the incident and provide easy access to information for journalists and public.
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