Journalist booked over story on Varanasi woman's lockdown 'misery'

An FIR has been filed against a journalist for allegedly misrepresenting facts in a report on the impact of the lockdown in a village adopted by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, police sources said on Thursday.

The First Information Report (FIR) was filed against Supriya Sharma, the executive editor of Scroll.in, at Ramnagar Police Station based on a complaint from Mala Devi, a resident of Domari village, they said.

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Domari village, which falls in Varanasi constituency, was adopted by Prime Minister Narendra Modi under the Sansad Adarsh Gram Yojana.

The news report had quoted Mala Devi as having said that she is a domestic worker and had been facing shortage of essential food items as she did not have a ration card.

Mala Devi alleged that the journalist misquoted her, according to the police sources.

Mala Devi complained that she was not a domestic help but worked as a sanitation worker with Varanasi city municipality through outsourcing. She also said none of her family members faced any problem during the lockdown .

In the FIR, she accused Sharma of "mocking my poverty and caste" by claiming that she and her children went hungry during the lockdown.

Police booked Sharma under the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, and sections of the Indian Penal Code.