STING OF THE ANGRY MEDIA WASP

By T Kannamala

Author:  News Chase: Thrills, frills & perils of News Reporting

<http://www.amazon.com/dp/1980796831>

Book Review: https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=5994658126633725065#allposts

(A short story that I published in 2013 after the Tehelka editor was arrested on molestation charge.  Recently several TV channels have telecast special programs about the journalists getting involved in similar cases. Being a journalist myself, here is my take on the issue.)  

`Only three of us will know about this sting operation,’ Komal Kumar, editor-owner of the Wasp News Weekly declared.
Chief Reporter Sheila Rani and senior photographer Krishnadas stiffened, and leaned forward in their chairs. 
When summoned to the editor’s cabin, they both knew some mischief was in the air…exposing a business lobbyist, trapping a corrupt politician, or a venal judge of the higher judiciary. 
But they were in for a rude shock.
Stage a fake molestation, and report it to the police!
Startled, Sheila eyed him uneasily.
`This is a delicate assignment’, Kumar explained. `It needs a lot of homework, guts, conviction, and commitment. I thought you were the best in the team to execute it. One of my TV actress friends agreed to do it. But I found she lacked the nerve and intelligence. She would crack under tough questioning.’
It was a special meeting, after the regular editorial staff had left. The immediate provocation for the `sting’ was the report of a month old gang rape. The gang rape story was widely reported in social media and all news publication, including Wasp news. The victim, a fading film artiste, who hogged huge publicity for herself, had to admit later it was a blackmail attempt that went awry.

Meanwhile, the accused men have been named and shamed in the social and mainline media.
`We have an overdose of rape and molestation cases in recent times’, the editor continued with a smirk. `Women seem to have the license to allege sexual assault against anyone. They forget that the victim, thus named and ashamed is some other woman's son, husband, brother, or father, and defenceless. This is a dangerous situation. I consulted friends, pondered hard over this issue, and had come up with this solution.’ 
The picture was slowly coming in to focus. Sheila gazed at him, very alert and worried now. She knew the basics of Law.
According to the Indian Penal Code, a person knowingly giving false complaint was liable to be punished. The complainant stood to attract the same punishment the offender would have suffered, if the allegations were true. The rape and molestation entailed a punishment of not less than seven years. 
She felt a lump forming in her throat.
As if reading her thought, the Editor smiled, and assured her that he was aware of the legal problems. The problems had been taken care of. `We want people to believe that there was molestation. As you know, believing something, and proving it in a court of law are two different things.'
The Editor paused to consult a sheet of paper on the table and continued: `there are legal provisions where bare statements and answers given to a police could not be made the basis for prosecution. Escape routes are there on jurisdictional issues.’
He read out several cases where false complainants went free, using these holes. 
Sheila looked at the photographer, then at the editor, still with a puzzled expression in the eyes. 
The Editor continued in his persuasive tone: `Look here Sheila. This is a wonderful opportunity, which would zoom your careergraph. My suggestion is to grab it before someone else does.' 
There was a nervous silence. Sheila appeared to be afraid to break it...
`OK’, the Editor said in a mild grating voice, softened with a smile. `I appreciate your concerns. Please tell me now...are you in or out?’
Sheila recognised a threat when she heard one. Her brain worked fast. She imagined a moth, flying towards naked flame. Or could it be another exciting experience? She drew in a long slow breath, looked at the Editor, and nodded her acceptance.
Photographer Krishnadas Grinned. 
He had implicit faith in the sharp brain and soulless mind of the editor.
******************
Sheila and Krishnadas had been assigned, on record, to visit Kerala and do a photo feature on tourism with special emphasis on house boats. The office booked their tickets in an air conditioned second class compartment of the Trivandrum Express. 
The train carrying them left Mumbai CST at 0600 hrs. Two fellow passengers in the four passenger cabin were copy writers of an Advertising agency and had been sheer fun. By evening, the two Executives got down at Gulbarga. The reservation chart showed that one Subash and his wife were to board the compartment from the next station Wadi, and travel with them up to Krishnarajapuram in

Andhra Pradesh.
The journalists were not to know that the two passengers would never board the train from Wadi; they never existed. The ticket fare went in to the general account of the Wasp Weekly News. 
The two travelled alone in the night.

Both did not sleep. They discussed the script the editor had prepared for the proposed `sting operation.’ Each possible scenario had been explained. They were advised to destroy the script after burning the contents in to their brains. Sheila had to memorise the entire complaint verbatim, carefully prepared by the company lawyer.
As the train slowed down at Krishnarajapuram in the small hours of the next day, Sheila grabbed her bag and jumped out. She rushed towards the police station, and made a complaint of sexual assault against the photographer. She deliberately spoke English, and Hindi in an excited manner, so that the sleepy Station Writer in charge understood only minimum. He gave her a piece of paper and asked her to write out a complaint. Within minutes, Sheila handed over the complaint to the Police Station in charge. 
Meantime the train pulled out of the station.
As pre-planned, unmindful of the development, Krishnadas continued his journey for Kerala, and got down at Alapuzha Junction by evening. It was from an evening newspaper he knew that he was wanted by the AP Police for the alleged assault and rape attempt on his colleague inside the train.
`What a horrible picture’, he said to himself gazing at his old picture in the paper, and tossed it away.
********************
The molestation story of a journalist in the running train shook the nation. It was the lead story in all national newspapers. Social networks carried background information, mostly unauthenticated, with photos of a woman jumping out of a running train, and a hefty man trying to grab her. The news, like a hurricane, gathered speed and strength, whipping up incredible waves of passion, speculation, disgust and demands to award exemplary punishment to the rapist. The issue was taken up by women activists, lawyers, journalists, social service organisations, and politicians.
Meantime, `Wasp News’ special edition was churning out lakhs of copies, with details of their latest `sting operation.’
The hurricane was stopped on the track, when the next issue of Wasp news hit the market. It carried the `rape and aftermath’ as the lead story. 
In a signed first page editorial, Komal Kumar wrote: `I am glad that our sting operation, ably supported by a reporter and photographer, had hit the target. My apologies for the kind of exposure both had endured. It was a `sting with a message’, and I do hope it had reached the enlightened readers at large. 
We wanted to expose several myths related to molestation cases. The avalanche of molestation charges, according to my reckoning, started after an unsubstantiated observation of a Supreme Court judge. While disposing of a case, he asserted that the Indian women would never lie about sexual assault. He argued that rapist could be punished purely based on the statement of the victim.
We wanted to expose the inherent dangers in this line of argument.

More importantly, the visual media that thrive on similar news.
Our considered view is that depending on the situation, vulnerability and inducement, the Indian women, just like any other human being could be bought for a price. I was a crime reporter years ago, and had interviewed several women arrested under the Suppression of Immoral Traffic Act. While the first timers were generally despondent, ashamed and contrite, the regulars were very casual about the whole affair. They had been friendly with the cops and a few media persons, covering the crime beat. These women had considered the arrests and prosecution just an `occupational hazard.’ 
Many of them had been willing to say, and do anything, if they benefited out of it. One of them, Chandraprabha, later became a junior artiste in TV serials.
`I was very sure that there would be several women out there who would be willing to accuse respectable, law abiding people, if tackled the right way. Dangle Money, threat, revenge or ideology before the vulnerable minds. You will be surprised with the result.
I tried it successfully in the train episode. 
I approached the woman chief reporter of this weekly, dangling the inducement of a major news story that could hog national headlines. She fell for it, though reluctantly. Assuming that she would not agree, I had earlier approached my TV actress friend. Her terse reply was `no role is impossible, if money is slated to flow my way.’
But our Legal advisor shot down the idea, warning that if the actress later maintained that the photographer indeed attempted to molest her, we could be in a tough spot! 
All such attempts need not be successful. `In the case of our woman chief reporter, I impressed her about the damage the society could suffer, if all rape cases had been whipped up as a women vs. men confrontation.  After she was convinced, her only fear was about prosecution.

I had cited the case of a false complaint, and how the complainant got away. A woman complained to police that she was raped by an Army Officer. The Military Court found out that it was false complaint.  The complainant was prosecuted and convicted by a civil court. But the conviction was set aside by the high court on the grounds of jurisdiction. It is impossible to determine the jurisdiction while the train is running, unless the complainant is very specific. Our lawyers had taken special care while drafting the complaint.’
I assured her that there were very many similar loop-holes, and our legal department would ensure that she came to no harm.
The photographer was not particularly bothered, as he was a divorcee, and thought a little publicity would not hurt. He was given a generous allowance, so that he could enjoy Kerala till his presence, if at all, was absolutely necessary before the police.
The editorial continued: `I was amused by the reaction among the general public, after the news broke out based solely on the police FIR. Several women’s organizations passed resolutions condemning the event. Probably they had been influenced by the judge’s comment that women never lied about this matter, or thought it was their duty to side with the underdog. Political parties jumped in to the fray. A social activist and writer said she would never again read `Wasp News Weekly.’ Some vociferous activists suggested that such men to be shot first, and then asked questions. Newspapers wrote editorial condemning the episode.
Letters to the editor in newspapers appeared, describing our reporter as bold, fighter for the cause of women, and a symbol of women power. Many women declared her as their role model. A large number of women’s organizations had invited her for a lecture on how to react, when similar incidents occurred.
The press clubs did not know whom to support. So they chose not to react, till more authentic information emerged.
Incidentally, nobody bothered to find out the personal details of the victim and assailant. Sheila Rani is a fourth degree black belt holder in martial art, and quite capable of taking care of herself.

The puny photographer in his late fifties, no doubt a boozer, but a mild mannered professional and gentleman. But all these facts were washed out in the tsunami of protests, and media hype. Or is it the belief that woman will not lie on this subject, as declared by a former supreme court judge? 
Please read Sheila Rani’s article on page 18 of this tabloid to know how easy it is to frame up any one in a molestation case, and more importantly - the escape routes for the person who lodges a false complaint!

EOM/DEC.12, 2013