Scribe’s number ‘leaked’, wife alleges harassment

NEW DELHI: The wife of a senior television journalist on Wednesday filed an FIR at south Delhi’s Safdarjung Enclave police station, alleging her husband received multiple threats and abusive calls on his personal cell phone numbers. The woman said that when she received some of the calls, an unidentified caller used obscene words against her too.

Police have filed an FIR under sections 506, 507 (criminal intimidation by anonymous communication), 509 (word, gesture or act intended to insult woman’s modesty) 354 D (stalking) and 34 (common intention) of IPC. “We included stalking and sexual harassment sections as the complainant herself received claims that the callers used filthy words against her too,” said a senior police officer.

The officer said security has been provided outside the journalist’s house. On Wednesday evening, the case was transferred to the anti terror unit of Delhi police.

The television journalist’s phone numbers were made public on Tuesday night by Delhi water resources minister Kapil Mishra on his Twitter account. In his tweet, Mishra wrote that he made the journalist’s phone numbers public, after the news channel for which the journalist works flashed his cell number on television.

Mishra, later deleted the tweet. In a letter to the editors’ association, the journalist alleged that after Mishra’s tweet, he started receiving threats and abusive calls. Some of the callers even abused his children, he said. Mean while, Mishra told HT that it was news channel that gave out the number. Mishra alleged that he received hundreds of calls and messages, some of which were abusive and threatening. “I would not have any problem if the channel repeatedly said that I was not taking their calls. But making my number public was wrong,” he said.