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Journalism of Courage
The defence in the Shivani Bhatnagar murder case came in for sharp criticism from a Delhi court for its attempts to tarnish the Indian Express journalist’s image.
“Perhaps, we have not come out of this ‘illusive superiority’ of male chauvinism. Why a lonely girl is taken as an easy prey, irrespective of her own whims and response,” Additional Sessions Judge Rajender Kumar Shastri said.
The defence counsel, during the trial, had alleged that the victim was crazy for professional achievement. They also claimed that her marriage with another journalist was an attempt to spur her career prospects.
Slamming such attempts, the judge said, “I think, it was the personal choice of the deceased as whom she married. None particularly accused had any right to challenge her personal liberty.”
“Such comments tend to debauch womanhood. Such an eerie plea advanced by the counsel is nothing but a pettifoggery,” the court said.
