‘Stop patronising me and give me an interview’: the female journalists speaking up for India’s poor
A woman explains how a group of four men repeatedly broke into her house and raped her; six times so far. Did she go to the police? Yes, but officers refused to investigate. Instead, they threatened her and her husband. “These men can do anything. They can even kill us,” the victim says to the reporter, Meera, who is filming on her smartphone. As Meera leaves, the woman’s husband tells her that she is their only hope. “We don’t trust anyone except Khabar Lahariya.”
Khabar Lahariya is India’s only all-female news organisation. Based in Uttar Pradesh, its journalists passionately believe in reporting rural issues through a feminist lens.
After interviewing the rape victim, Meera walks to the police station where the officer in charge squirms, feebly making excuses for inaction on the case. Meera is filming him, so he can’t send her packing – like his officers did the victim. This is grassroots journalism at its finest: uncovering
