Media trial and Twitter politics follows DU student Jasleen Kaur’s complaint on Bullet biker Sarabjit Singh

Staff correspondent, August 25, 2015, NewsCrunch

Media jumped the gun, Twitter played politics and even police rushed to announce an award after DU student Jasleen Kaur complained on her Facebook that a man on a silver Bullet bike had passed obscene comments at her.

Delhi CM Kejriwal and DCW chairperson Swati Maliwal made statements supporting her, possibly even before police officials could brief them on the facts of the case.

Delhi police arrested Sarabjit Singh, 26, on Monday and booked him on serious charges, including sexual harassment.

NewsCrunch advocates a zero tolerance policy on women’s safety. But that should happen through the due process of law, not through a digital equivalent of mob lynching on social and mainstream media.

Jasleen Kaur wrote on her Facebook late Sunday night that a man had passed obscene comments on her at Tilak Nagar. When she cautioned him that she would file a police complaint, he dared her to do so and also allegedly threatened that there would be consequences.

When she took his photo, he posed.

There is no information in her post about the circumstances which led to incident.

Later on Monday she told IANS that she came in front of the bike when she was crossing the road. She pointed at the red signal and said he should have stopped. In response, he made obscene remarks," she alleged.

It is for the police to probe and bring out facts of the case and apply relevant provisions. Sarabjit Singh is presumed innocent until proven guilty and that is the cornerstone of Indian jurisprudence.

Jasleen Kaur wrote on her Facebook late Sunday night that a man had passed obscene comments on her at Tilak Nagar.

But media picked Jasleen Kaur’s post and amplified what she said. They published Sarabjit Singh’s photograph and went to town without his version of the story, with headlines that were partisan. In some media reports, Sarabjit Singh became a pervert, even a molester.

Here’s a sample of headlines that reported the incident:

When the Rohtak sisters made their allegations against three boys, media put them on trial. The Indian Army even cancelled recruitment order for one of the accused. A SIT team, which probed the case, recently rejected the allegations against the boys.

While media failed to learn from its past mistakes, Twitter users came in support of Sarabjit Singh though for the wrong reasons. They found that Jasleen Kaur had AAP sympathies and that made her the political opponent, and Sarabjit Singh, the wronged man.