NEW DELHI: India’s human rights body said on Friday that police should investigate the brutal assault of a journalist who was tied, beaten and paraded through a village while reporting on alleged corruption.

Video footage circulated on social media showed journalist Bijay Pradhan being beaten up on May 25 after he went to report on construction of a housing scheme in the eastern state of Odisha.

“Reportedly, he was suddenly attacked… The victim’s legs and hands were tied, and he was paraded through the village before being tied to a pole and mercilessly beaten,” the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) said. It called upon police in Odisha to provide a report within two weeks.

“The victim’s mobile phones and video camera were also smashed by the perpetrators, and he was threatened not to report anything about the incident,” the NHRC added in a statement. Four people suspected of assaulting the journalist have been arrested.

Incidents of intimidation and assaulting journalists are not uncommon in India. The country is ranked 151 on the World Press Freedom Index, run by Reporters Without Borders.

In January, India’s media watchdog sought a thorough investigation after the battered body of a journalist, who had widely reported on corruption in neighbouring Chhattisgarh state, was found stuffed in a septic tank covered with concrete.

Published in Dawn, May 31st, 2025