Mr. Prithviraj Chavan
Chief Minister
Government of Maharashtra
Mantralaya
Mumbai - 400 032
India


30 August 2013


Dear Mr. Chavan,


We are writing on behalf of the World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers (WAN-IFRA) and the World Editors Forum, which represent 18,000 publications, 15,000 online sites and over 3,000 companies in more than 120 countries, to express our deepest concern regarding the rape of a young photojournalist that took place in the heart of Mumbai.

The young woman was reportedly assaulted on 22 August by a group of five men as she took photographs inside an abandoned textile mill. The men proceeded to gang rape the woman in broad daylight and physically attack her male colleague.

We are appalled and deeply shocked by this horrific incident and feel that it reflects extremely poorly on safety and policing in India's economic capital, which is also home to a number of major media organisations.

WAN-IFRA disagrees with the suggestion made by the Home Minister of Maharashtra that female journalists should seek police protection when they go out on assignment; it is the fundamental duty of the state government and police to ensure that the city of Mumbai is safe for all its citizens. Journalists in Mumbai, irrespective of their gender, should feel completely safely in carrying out their professional duties of informing the public and contributing to a free and open society.

WAN-IFRA respectfully urges the Government of Maharashtra to take every possible step to bring the assailants to justice in order to send a clear warning to criminal elements in the city that sexual violence and the targeting of women will be met with a zero tolerance approach by your administration.

We look forward to hearing from you at your earliest convenience.
 
Yours sincerely,

Tomas Brunegård


President


World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers
 
Erik Bjerager


President


World Editors Forum


WAN-IFRA is the global organisation for the world’s newspapers and news publishers, with formal representative status at the United Nations, UNESCO and the Council of Europe. The organisation groups 18,000 publications, 15,000 online sites and over 3,000 companies in more than 120 countries.