On Friday (16th January), a female journalist working for Zee 24 Ghanta News was brutally thrashed and sexually assaulted by a violent mob in Beladanga village in the Muslim-dominated Murshidabad district of West Bengal.
The victim was identified as Soma Maiti. According to reports, the mob was supposedly angry over the death of a migrant worker. When Maiti and a fellow photojournalist went to report in Belanga, they were mercilessly attacked.
Maiti was punched, slapped, kicked and molested by the mob in the middle of the road. The attackers also chased the victim when she ran for her life.
Besides Soma Maiti, the mob assaulted 12 employees of various news organisations and severely injured them. Interestingly, the attack was carried out despite a significant police presence in the area.
The Zee 24 Ghanta journalist is now undergoing treatment at a nearby hospital. While speaking about the matter, “I went to work there, but the way I was beaten cannot be expressed in words. In all these years of my journalism, I never had such a disturbing experience. 2 people grabbed my legs, one was pulling my hair while another was pulling my clothes.”
The ruling Trinamool Congress has apparently ‘condemned’ the incident and dubbed it as an attack on ‘press freedom.’ However, no arrests have been made so far in connection with the case.
স্রেফ ভোটব্যাংক বাঁচাতে গত দুদিন ধরে সরকারি দফতর ভাঙলো মাননীয়া আপনার আশ্রিত দুষ্কৃতীরা। জনপ্রতিনিধি হয়ে পেশী শক্তি দেখাতে এক একজন বিধায়ক নিজেদের ভাবে কি? গুন্ডা গিরি?
— Agnimitra Paul BJP (@paulagnimitra1) January 17, 2026
আজকে বেলডাঙ্গায় যা হলো, তা অবর্ণনীয়! আজ মুর্শিদাবাদের বেলডাঙ্গায় Z 24 ঘণ্টার মহিলা সাংবাদিক সোমা মাইতি… pic.twitter.com/dn0N88FfqW
The Opposition BJP has demanded strong action against the perpetrators.
