Jain girl dies, aradhana died, Jain girl dies on fasting, Hyderabad girl dies of fasting, aradhana

(S.Ravi Seshu)

Habitually, reporters do take press notes lightly but a quick follow up to the information provided by a press release can become a big story of the day. Here is a classic example.

A 13-year old Aaradhana, an eighth standard student, daughter of a jeweller died on October 2 after observing 68 days of fasting as per an age old Jain tradition. On coming to know about it, Balala Hakkula Sangham, which fights for the rights of children, promptly issued a press release after filing a complaint with city police commissioner on Friday. Indeed, it is a sensational story for any reporter with brains!

For example, Eenadu published a small story in Hyderabad mini (tabloid edition) under the title, “Moodanammakaalatone Baalika mruthi (Girl died of superstitions)” on Saturday. The story was based on the complaint filed the Sangham’s president Anuradha Rao to the police. It is purely a matter of fact report. Neither the reporter/bureau chief nor the desk in-charge sensed the gravity of the story. Had they bothered to send the reporter to visit the area where the girl lived, it would have been a big story of the day. Almost all English newspaper didn’t even bother to publish the statement of the Sangham. Because, majority of English paper editors in Hyderabad are mountains of arrogance and they resort to arm chair journalism.

Some news channels played up the story on Saturday prompting all newspapers to do a big story for the next day’s edition. The insignificant press release turned out to be a prominent story the next day, Sunday. The same Eenadu re-cooked the story under a headline “Aachaaraani Aaradhana Bali” with a quote from the victim’s parents. This story got bigger space and prominence in the main edition. The report honestly mentioned that widespread concerns were expressed following the telecast of the story on the girl’s death in national and international media.

The English press made a big story out of it. The No-1 newspaper, Deccan Chronicle, made it a banner story while Times of India carried it on page-1. The Hindu coined a word ‘holy starvation’ to project the story, which was buried in an inside page.

The headlines of the Major three English newspapers are as follows:

The Hindu:

Teenager dies after ending 68 days of ‘holy starvation’

Times of India:

Girl dies a day after breaking 68-day fast

Deccan Chronicle:

Jain girl, 13, fasts for 68 days, dies

The moral of the story is, press notes can’t be taken lightly.