Callous and insensitive towards victim

The horrific incident of torture and rape of a five-year-old girl in Dinajpur left us dumbstruck with rage. Now, it seems we have failed her yet again. A picture of the Dinajpur Deputy Commissioner handing over financial help to the survivor's grandfather was posted by a freelance journalist on the social media site Facebook, and then carried by multiple newspapers along with the names of the victim and her family members. 

As great a gesture as the help might be on the part of the DC, posting pictures of rape victims and their family, especially in a society such as ours, is both callous and insensitive. It mars the commendable gesture, and puts the victim open to further social stigma and marginalisation.

We appreciate that newspapers are giving due importance to this horrific crime; more so since one of the alleged rapist is still on the run. We also understand the imperative for media organisations to keep alive the focus on the issue so that our outcry is lasting. What is not acceptable is to put the victim through further trauma from society.

While some of the newspapers which carried the photo expressed regret for doing so, the journalist who originally posted the photo said that he was instructed to take the photograph on instructions from the DC office. If that is indeed the case, it was utterly insensitive of the DC to use his philanthropic gesture in an issue such as this for publicity. On the other hand, media organisations need to treat issues like this with more attention, so that their work does not end up doing more harm than good.