Rapist or rape accused- Language does matter in news reports

Rapist or rape accused- Language does matter in news reports
Rapist or rape accused- Language does matter in news reports
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Anisha Sheth| The News Minute| July 3, 2014| 10.40 am ISTWhat’s wrong with this sentence?: “In a case of twisted revenge, the relative of a rape victim allegedly molested the rapist's sister in Amar Jyothi Layout last week.”Nothing amiss? Not your fault. You would not know until the end of the report that the “rapist” is actually still an accused. Until conviction by a court, he remains an accused.Here’s the story. A woman in Bangalore was allegedly raped over a month ago by one Manjunath, who was arrested based on the woman’s complaint. Manjunath’s sister reportedly managed to get him released on bail. Enraged by this, the rape victim’s relative Wajid picked a fight with Manjunath’s sister and allegedly molested her. Wajid has been arrested based on Manjunath’s sister’s complaint.The Bangalore Mirror report has six references to Manjunath. Five of these call him a “rapist”, starting with the headline: “Victim’s kin molests sister of rapist."Could this have been headlined differently? How about “Rape victim’s kin molests sister of the accused” The only reference to him as an accused comes in the second last paragraph, towards the end of the report: “Wajid picked up a fight with Manjunath's sister for helping her brother, a rape accused, get bail.”The accusations against Wajid have somehow, been qualified with “allegedly”: “During the altercation, Wajid, who realised that she was alone at home, allegedly molested her and fled the scene after she raised an alarm, the officer said.” The headline though, has Wajid convicted of molestation.Talk about trial by media.

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