Forgot your password?
Rural Reporter Brutally Assaulted
By KTM Metro Reporter in Kathmandu
December 10, 2009: Nepalese reporters across the country have protested the assault of some unidentified people on reporter Ms Tika Bista in Rukum on Monday, December 7, 2009. Apparently, the attackers have lured her from her home to come out and then attacked her and thrown her from about 50 ft high cliff down and left her for dead. However, she survived the barbaric attack.
According to the report of her brother, she has written an article that the Maoists could not digest, and she has been receiving death threats from unidentified people. The assault on the woman reporter in the hill has been almost exactly after the killing of another woman reporter Uma Singh in Terai.
According to the Nepalese reporters, the government has acted halfheartedly to rescue her. She was first airlifted to Nepalgunj hospital. Doctors have said that the Nepalgunj hospital is not so well equipped to treat her; then the government took some time to airlift her to Kathmandu despite the reporters urging the government officials to expedite to airlift her to Kathmandu, as she is still in coma and time might be running out for saving her life.
In Kathmandu, doctors taking the case of Tika Bista in coma have said that it is hard to say anything as of now because she has the problems of not only of the head but also from head down to the feet; so they will take some time to tell exactly what her physical conditions are.
All reporters and human rights activists have condemned the assault on reporter Ms Tika Bista, and the assault on the rights to report on the subject matters of the public interest.
“The media environment for journalists has not improved since Nepal’s transition to democratic rule in 2008,” said Bob Dietz, CPJ Asia program coordinator. “Police must investigate the death threats Bista received and bring the perpetrators of this vicious attack to justice.” CPJ research shows that acts of violence against Nepali journalists historically have occurred frequently and without official investigations.
