In a shocking piece of news that showcased a growing trend of unethical verbal and physical treatments against journalists in Tamil Nadu, a journalist has been battling for survival after being brutally attacked by unidentified miscreants in Tirupur district. The journalist has been identified as 30-year-old Nesaprabhu and has been working as a reporter at News 7 Tamil.

Nesaprabhu is a native of Kamanaickenpalayam in Palladam, Tirupur and he has been covering Palladam and the surrounding regions for News 7 for the past seven years. On Wednesday - January 24, Nesaprabhu was brutally attacked by a group of six unidentified men and he sustained grievous injuries. He was attacked by sickles and suffered cracks at 65 places on his body. 

He was rushed to a private hospital in Coimbatore for further treatments and according to our sources, the expenses for hospitalization and the treatment would come to around Rs 20 lakh and the journalists have demanded the Tamil Nadu government to incur the cost as Nesaprabhu is in critical condition. During the morning hours of Thursday - January 25, he was moved to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) for further treatments. 

The horrific attack has commanded a huge attention from across and beyond Tamil Nadu with several journalists' unions have taken to streets to protest against the incident and to urge the government to nab the perpretrators. The visuals have shown Nesaprabhu getting treated amidst a plethora of blood. As fellow journalists pray for his speedy and lasting recovery, the incident had left thousands of presspersons in Tamil Nadu astonished and put them in despair. 

Why Nesaprabhu was attacked?

In recent times, Nesaprabhu had been covering illegal sale of liquor in the outlets of Tamil Nadu State Marketing Corporation (TASMAC) in Tirupur. He also had reported a story regarding an inspector threatening a trader and demanding bribes. The News 7 Tamil has said that Nesaprabhu was being followed by unidentified men in a car and a bike on Wednesday and after Nesaprabhu spotted that these men were following him intentionally, he decided to reach out to the police. 

He dialed to the police control room and reported about the incident after which the local Kamanaickenpalayam police was informed. The latter has asked Nesaprabhu to come in person to file a written complaint. While Nesaprabhu stopped in a public area near a petrol bunk at around 9 pm and was on a call with the police, the miscreants had surrounded him. 

The recording of the audio call between Nesaprabhu and the police was released, in which Nesaprabhu was heard saying, "Nothing is clear. They (miscreants) went to my father and asked my address and he had given the address without knowing who they are." When police asked whether they are Hindi people or Tamils, Nesaprabhu says they are Tamils and all of them would be under the age of 26. "There were six of them." 

Nesaprabhu further asserts that he had reached a safe place and says to the police that these people are following him for a long time. When the police officer says that he will take the incident to the notice of the inspector, Nesaprabhu replies saying, "Please inform the inspector. Anything may happen." When the police official asks whether Nesaprabhu has inspector's number, the journalist started to scream, "They have come. Please come, there are five cars. They have come, my life is over." 

After Nesaprabhu was surrounded by the miscreants, he was then brutally attacked by them with sickles and knives. He has suffered injuries on hands, chest, legs, and head. As the miscreants fled the spot, the local residents informed the police and initially, he was taken to a government hospital in Palladam after which he was taken to a private hospital in Coimbatore for higher treatments. 

While the police are probing the incident, it has been reported that the grudge about Nesaprabhu's coverage about the illegal liquor sale in Tirupur could be a reason why he was attacked. Superintendent of Police of Tiruppur district, P Saminathan had inspected the site of the crime and the police officials have secured the videos from the surveillance cameras of the petrol bunk. 

The Tiruppur Police have formed special teams to locate and arrest the miscreants and the incident has sparked a widespread fury from journalists across Tamil Nadu. Several journalists' unions in the districts and in the state have held protests at their respective districts to condemn the incident and to urge swift action from the police and to ensure the safety of media people.

Besides journalists, several political leaders have also sharply criticized the brutal attack and demanded the government to take appropriate action. This incident has furthered the level of uncertainty endured by the journalists who are restlessly reporting over a range of issues and injustices both from on the ground and online. In recent times, the journalists in Tamil Nadu had faced verbal harassments and abuses from political leaders for questioning them. 

The attack on Nesaprabhu has come at a time when a journalist union has announced to protest against Tamil Nadu BJP unit chief Annamalai for his derogative and obnoxious comments against a veteran journalist about his interview with Tamil Nadu Minister for Youth Affairs and Sports Development, Udhayanidhi Stalin. Annamalai's remarks and conduct of belittling journalists for a long time have been instigating an enmity from the BJP cadres against the journalists. While such verbal harassments threatened the rights possessed by journalists, this brazen attack on journalist Nesaprabhu has exhibited eroding safety measures for them.