These stories of crimes against journalists will shock you!

From midday photojournalist being beaten up to Hodan Nalayeh being killed in a terror attack; from Jamal Khashoggi's brutal murder to Jyotirmoy Dey's killing, journalists and media professionals have always been on the receiving end of deadly attacks. According to a global report in 2017, more than 900 journalists have been killed in the last decade for bringing news to the public, with just one in ten cases leading to a conviction. We look at a few incidents of crimes against media personnel

Updated On: 2019-07-19 08:41 AM IST

These stories of crimes against journalists will shock you!

Ashish Raje: On February 6, 2019, in a shocking incident, Ashish Raje, a senior photojournalist with mid-day was assaulted by Mumbai police officers at Mumbai Bagh in Nagpada, where he had gone to cover the ongoing anti-CAA protests. The incident took place at around 3 pm when Raje, who was waiting outside the barricade, crossed over to let a group of women pass - only to be assaulted by the cops. Raje was slapped four to five times, while another police officer hit his leg with a baton. In the process, the senior photojournalist's glasses were also broken. The two officers were found guilty of misconduct and were attached to the Central Region control room.

Hodan Nalayeh: On July 12, 2019, Sonali-based journalists Hodan Nalayeh and her husband were killed during a terrorist attack at Hotel Asasey in Kismayo, Somalia. At the time of her death, Nalayeh was nine months pregnant. The attack involved a car bombing and gunfire. Southern Somalia-based Jihadist radical group Al-Shabaab claimed the responsibility for the attack. Nalayeh was credited for showing a different side to Somalia through the stories of civil war, militancy, and famine. Pic/Twitter Hodan Nalayeh

Jamal Khashoggi: Jamal Khashoggi was a journalist, author, a columnist for Washington Post and a critic of the Saudi government. Khashoggi entered the Saudi Arabian consulate in Istanbul on October 2, 2018, and went missing since then. The Turkish government alleged that Jamal Khashoggi was killed in the Consulate and his body was chopped off. After initially denying any knowledge of Khashoggi's fate, the Saudi government admitted that Khashoggi was 'accidentally' strangled to death after a fight had broken out. Later, the Saudi authorities admitted that the execution was pre-planned and said 21 people had been arrested. A CIA report suggested that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman ordered the hit on Khashoggi. The alleged killing of Jamal Khashoggi brought about a global outrage and an outcry of demanding justice to Jamal. Khashoggi served as an adviser to the government but fell out of favour and fled Saudi Arabia in September 2017 and went into self-imposed exile. From the US, he wrote newspaper articles criticising the policies of the Saudi government.

J Dey: Underworld don Chhota Rajan and eight others were convicted for the murder of mid-day's crime and investigations editor Jyotirmoy Dey (J Dey) in 2011. A special MCOCA court delivered on May 2, 2018, sentenced Rajan and the other guilty to life imprisonment, seven years after Dey was gunned down. Investigations into the murder case revealed that gangster Chotta Rajan had ordered the hit on Dey because he felt that the crime journalist was glorifying arch-rival Dawood Ibrahim through his articles and showing him in poor light. Journalist Jigna Vora, who was accused of instigating Rajan against Dey was acquitted of all charges. J Dey was shot dead in Powai on June 11, 2011, when he was on his way home from Ghatkopar after meeting his mother Bina Dey. The journalist was on his motorcycle when four unidentified bike-borne gunmen shot him near Hiranandani Gardens in Powai. Dey was reported dead on arrival at the Hiranandani hospital.



Gauri Lankesh: Senior journalist, editor, and activist Gauri Lankesh was shot dead at the doorstep of her Bengaluru residence on September 5, 2017. A man riding a motorcycle fired at Lankesh from close range and fled. 55-year-old Gauri Lankesh succumbed to the bullet wounds. A year after the tragic incident, several men have been arrested who have alleged links to right-wing groups. Investigations are still being carried out by the police. Lankesh was the editor of 'Gauri Lankesh Patrike' a weekly tabloid published in Kannada. Lankesh often voiced her opinions against communal violence and communal politics and wrote strong pieces against right wing and Hindutva groups.

Herman Gomes: Television journalist Herman Gomes, who works with a private TV channel in Mumbai, was assaulted by unidentified persons while he was returning home along with a friend in a taxi on the night of October 13, 2018. The incident took place outside his home in Gamdevi. Two days later, the Mumbai police arrested four people who allegedly assaulted Herman Homes and his friend. Herman took to social media to share his story. He said, 'I always mind my own business and do stories that I firmly Believe in. Last night was something different and they came out to KILL me. My eye is badly affected and so is my body. I don't know which story affected people so much.

Suburna Akter Nodi: 32-year-old Subarna Akter Nodi, who worked as a correspondent in a private news channel Ananda TV in Dhaka, Bangladesh, was bludgeoned to death with a sharp weapon on the night of August 28, 2018. According to the investigation report, 10 to 12 assailants came riding on motorcycles and rang the doorbell of her house. When she answered the door, they hacked her and fled from the spot. Nodi is survived by a nine-year-old daughter.

Ruhila Adatia-Sood: Kenyan Ruhila Sood, a television and radio presenter and a journalist of Indian heritage, was killed by unidentified gunmen in the Westgate Mall attack in Nairobi, which took place on September 21, 2013. Ruhila was shot when she was hosting a cooking competition for children in the mall's rooftop car parking area. Ruhila was 31 years old and was pregnant at the time of her death.

In the file photo, grieving relatives attend the funeral ceremony for Kenyan journalist Ruhila Adatia-Sood in Nairobi

Jose Guadalupe Chan: Jose Guadalupe Chan, a reporter for a news website in the Mexican state of Quintana Roo, was shot dead by an unknown person when he was at a bar in the indigenous community of Felipe Carillo Puerto. Chan was a correspondent for the digital weekly Playa News, which is headquartered in Riviera Maya, near the resort city of Cancun. Chan was survived by his wife and two children at the time of his death.

In the file photo, the portrait of Mexican journalist Jose Guadalupe Chan is seen as his colleagues protest outside the City Hall in Playa del Carmen, Quintana Roo state, Mexico on June 30, 2018. Jose Guadalupe Chan, a reporter for a news website in the Mexican state of Quintana Roo was shot dead, the state's prosecutor and the site Chan worked for said. Pic/AFP

Shujaat Bukhari: Veteran journalist and Rising Kashmir editor Shujaat Bukhari and his PSO were shot dead by unidentified gunmen outside the newspaper's office in Srinagar on June 15, 2018. Bukhari was instrumental in organising several conferences for peace in the Kashmir Valley. He earlier worked with The Hindu as its Kashmir correspondent. Bukhari's body was spotted lying in a pool of blood near the newspaper's office.

In the file photo, relatives of slain editor-in-chief of a Srinagar-based newspaper Rising Kashmir Shujaat Bukhari mourn near his coffin at Kreeri. Pic/AFP

Julieth Gonzalez Theran: During the FIFA World Cup 2018, Colombian journalist Julieth Gonzalez Theran was molested when she was reporting from the Russian city of Saransk. Theran claimed that a man appeared suddenly and grabbed her arm with one hand and touched her breasts with the other hand while kissing her on the cheek. Theran carried on with her reporting during the live broadcast and said the man had disappeared by the time she turned around after the camera stopped filming her. The assault against Theran came at a time when the world was taken by the storm by #MeToo movement, a movement against the sexual misconduct and sexual harassment of women across the globe.


In the file photo, the offender is seen kissing the reporter and groping her breast while she was live on camera

On August 23, 2018, a journalist in Mumbai lodged an FIR with the Borivali police complaining that an auto rickshaw driver allegedly masturbated before her. 'I was texting my colleagues when a friend called. While I was on the call, I noticed the driver indulge in obscene actions. I told my friend about it,' the journalist said in her complaint to Borivali police. The female journalist further claimed that there were six men nearby, who saw the driver masturbate, but none came to help her.

Dharmendra Singh: Three bike-borne assailants killed Dainik Bhaskar reporter Dharmendra Singh in November 2016 in Bihar, after his frequent reporting on local stone chips mafia. Singh was shot dead while he was standing at a roadside tea stall during his morning walk. He received several threats for reporting against the local mafia. Within a month after the incident, two people were arrested in connection

Tarun Mishra: The Bureau chief of the Jan Sandesh Times a Hindi newspaper in Sultanpur, was shot dead in broad daylight on February 13, 2016. Mishra along with his uncle was driving to Sultanpur in a car when two gunmen on a motorcycle stopped the car and shot Mishra. He was rushed to the hospital but was declared dead on arrival. Uttar Pradesh Journalist Union alleged that Mishra was killed for writing against illegal activities in Uttar Pradesh. The then Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav had ordered an inquiry and announced a compensation of Rs 10 lakh to his family

Rajdev Ranjan: 42-year-old Rajdev Ranjan, the Bureau Chief of Dainik Hindustan, was shot dead in May 2016 while he was returning home from the office on his motorbike in Siwan in Bihar. Two bullets were fired at him, one hit his head and the other on the neck. At least four times, Ranjan had reported against former RJD MP Mohammad Shahabuddin, who was serving a life imprisonment in connection with the murder of two brothers. The CBI had filed a charge sheet against Shahabuddin and six other on August 22, 2017, in connection with the murder case

Hemant Yadav: In October 2015, some bike-borne assailants killed Hemant Yadav, who was a reporter of a local news channel in Uttar Pradesh. Yadav was socially active and used to report on local issues in Chandauli district

Sandeep Kothari: The man who was working as a freelance crime journalist for Nai Duniya, was abducted, strangled and was burnt alive on June 20, 2015. His body was recovered on a railroad track in Nagpur. Following the incident, the police rounded up three youth who later confessed to the crime. Kothari had reported on illegal mining and land grabbing in Nagpur, due to which he received several death threats. He had also informed police about the several threats but all in vain

MVN Shankar: The senior journalist for Andhra Prabha, a Telugu language daily, was killed by unidentified assailants with iron rods on November 25, 2014. Days before he was attacked he reported about the kerosene oil mafia in Guntur

Jagendra Singh: The freelance journalist in Uttar Pradesh's Shahjahanpur was burnt alive allegedly by cops and goons at his residence on June 1, 2015. Singh ran a Facebook page named Shahjahanpur Samachar', where he wrote extensively about UP Minister Ram Murti Verma regarding corruption. Singh also alleged that Verma had gang-raped an Anganwadi worker. Following Singh's death, Verma was booked for murder, criminal intimidation, and criminal conspiracy

Akshay Singh: The investigative journalist at Aaj Tak channel, died under mysterious circumstances while investigating the unnatural deaths in the Vyapam scam in 2015 in Madhya Pradesh. The 36-year-old journalist died shortly following his interview with the parents of a girl who was found dead after her name figured in the scam

Tarun Kumar Acharya: The stringer for a local Oriya-language TV channel, was killed on May 27, 2014, in Odisha while he was on his way to home in Ganjam district. The 29-year-old journalist was attacked by few assailants who slit his throat and left him to die. Acharya was killed due to his report of child labour in a cashew processing factory. The police later arrested the mastermind, Prusty, owner of the cashew-nut processing factory

Indradev Yadav: The TV journalist, also known as Akhilesh Pratap Yadav, was killed near his home in May 2016 in Jharkhand. As per reports, Yadav was shot dead while he was on his motorcycle in Chatra district of the state thus creating a murder mystery. After the investigation, Chatra Police revealed that the Maoists splinter group Tritiya-Sammelan Prastuti Committee (TPC) had demanded Rs 7 lakh from the journalist as levy when he didn't agree to pay them, he was killed. Following his demise, the Jharkhand CM declared a financial assistance of Rs 5 lakh to Yadav's family. Earlier, Yadav had worked as a local correspondent for Kolkata-based Hindi news channel Taaza TV.

Saeed Butt: On September 10, 2018, a senior journalist was shot dead by two unidentified gunmen in Pakistan's Multan district. Saeed Butt, 48, was sitting at a shop in the main market of Khanewal district, when two masked men, suspected to be robbers, barged into the shop and demanded money from the senior journalist. According to the police, Butt handed over his wallet but dacoits demanded more money and on his refusal opened fire at him. The suspects fled after the killing the senior journalist. Three suspects including a woman were arrested after the police scanned the CCTV footage of the market. The police also recovered the weapon that was used by the suspects.

Girish Nikam: On July 20, 2018, a 41-year-old Mumbai based Journalist, Girish Nikam was looted on the Mumbai-Pune Expressway at gunpoint by an unidentified person who was travelling in a tourist car. Girish was on his way to Mumbai from Pune. As he wasn't getting any transportation to come back to the city he took a ride in the tourist vehicle after it had approached him.

Girish was quoted saying, 'everything was going fine and the car took a break at Urse toll Naka area to fill fuel. As we had stopped for a break another person who was seated ahead came back and sat next to me on the pretext of attending nature's call. He further added, 'The person who sat beside me, pointed gun nearby my waist. Later they demanded money and took away all the valuables and even threatened to take my life.' The suspected accused thrashed Girish and withdrew 41000 cash from his ATM card.

Mitali Chandola: On June 23, 2019, a woman journalist on was shot and wounded by a group of unidentified men in east Delhi's Vasundhara Enclave. The incident occurred at 12.30 a.m. when Mitali Chandola was driving her Hyundai i20 car when the attackers in another car intercepted her and fired two shots aiming to kill her. The journalist survived the horrific incident and was said to be stable after the incident. Chandola reportedly worked for a news channel based in Noida.

Anand Narayan: On June 4, 2019, a 38-year-old journalist was murdered at his home in Antop Hill in Mumbai. A few men allegedly barged into the deceased's house on the seventh floor in the Penta Galaxy building and slit his throat while he was sleeping. Neighbours heard the victim's cries and alerted the police. The victim was barely alive when cops arrived and was taken to the Sion hospital where he was declared dead on arrival by the doctors. The deceased identified as Anand Narayan worked as a journalist for a local newspaper in Mumbai. The CCTV grabs show three persons entering the building around 2 am. The Antop Hill police suspect that the trio were involved in the crime.

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