Take 8: The Meteoric Rise in Sympathy for Rape-Accused Lamichhane
Calling out Nepali media's Himpathy Problem
On November 5th, The Kathmandu Post published its front-page story with the headline, “The meteoric rise and steep fall of Sandeep Lamichhane” followed by the sub-heading, “Nepal’s most well-known international sportsperson who put Nepal on the global cricketing map is currently facing the crisis of his life.”
What is the nature of this crisis, we wonder. Is it something to do with his form? Has he suffered a career-threatening injury?
In the thirty-six paragraphs that make up the article, it is only in paragraph twenty that we are told about the specific nature and cause of the crisis.
The reporter must have gotten carried away by his admiration for the young cricketer. If not, why would he dedicate nineteen paragraphs to the cricketer’s impressive career without a single mention of the fact that Sandeep Lamichhane has been charged with the rape of a minor and is currently in judicial custody awaiting the court’s final verdict?
Talk about burying the lede!
Himpathy Rife in Nepali Newsrooms
The structure and the content of the said story suggest that the reporter, the editor, and the newspaper are more concerned about Lamichhane’s future. By trying to bury the criminal charges against Lamichhane under glowing praise and concerns for his future, the reporter, the editor, and the newspaper have grossly trivialised the gravity of the crime the perpetrator is accused of.
And, of course, there is no mention of the survivor’s future in the thirty-six paragraphs.
By the end of the story, it feels like the reporter wants us to forget that Lamichhane has even been accused of rape, and instead wants us to sympathise with the young man. The rape charges against him are sidelined as our attention is diverted to the cricketer’s “arrogance”, or “age” - old and new quotes have been pieced together to create an image of Lamichhane deserving of our sympathy.
This is textbook himpathy. And this story by The Kathmandu Post isn’t the only example of reporting that has trivialised the serious criminal charges against Lamicchane.
Onlinekhabar published an article that turned an ongoing criminal proceeding into a ‘he said, she said’ piece. It even went as far as suggesting that Lamichhane had no sexual relations with the minor, despite the evidence submitted by the police. The piece was, instead, Lamichhane’s mouthpiece, publishing claims such as - “ सन्दीप लामिछानेको बयान : उसको चित्त नदुखोस् भनेर नगरकोट गएको थिएँ” as the headline.
(We are not linking this piece.)
The Impact and the Consequences
Such news stories only embolden individuals on social media who are blaming and shaming the survivor for ‘ruining’ Lamichhane’s future.
Rarely do the journalists, who are mostly men, question the perpetrator or try to get in touch with the survivor to report on how the national spotlight on this case might be affecting her. And what is her side of the story? Do they even realise that this kind of news coverage centering only on the influential perpetrator is contributing to the larger narrative about ‘conspiracy against men’ rife all over social media?
Because of the way internet and social media work, these kind of stories and headlines is what ‘scandal-hungry’ YouTubeyy patrakars and TikTokers latch on to, and fuel the misinformation and false narratives around rape and sexual assault that demonise the survivor.
And, with the help of media outlets, the perpetrators are turned into subjects of sympathy.
We have no choice but to call out media outlets that publish such stories. Unfortunately, this isn’t the first time we’ve called out Nepali daju bhai patrakars.
It is high time they address the inherent biases existing in the patriarchal newsrooms they work in, and lead.
Nepali newsrooms don’t always have the best record when it comes to introspection and learning from their past mistakes. But it is high time they review the way they report rape because more than anyone else, it is journalists and newsrooms, who probably understand the weight their words carry, especially when they are splashed across the front page of a national daily. Because as cliche as it may sound, with great powers (of the ‘fourth estate’) come great responsibility (towards survivors of sexual assault).
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And now on to our reading list this week.
Here are a series of articles on how media should report on stories of rape:
The Media Needs To Rethink How It Reports Rape, The Wire
The Media Is Reporting Rape Stories All Wrong, Huffpost.com
How should the media report rape and sexual violence? The Guardian
When It Comes to Reporting on Sexual Assault in Media, Words Matter, ucdavis.edu
How Media Reports Exacerbate Rape Culture, Truthout.org
This is how Nepal’s news media covers rape, Boju Bajai