Thread by @MnshaP

When our correspondents first visited Hathras, the victim was still alive & the family was disappointed with lack of media attention. Then she died & their house was overrun by journalists with little sensitivity towards the ordeal they had been through newslaundry.com/2020/10/01/our…

When Asha’s father was taken away by the police in the afternoon yesterday, her mother sat in a corner of the courtyard outside the house, her back against a stone pillar. She wore the same blue sari that she had been wearing on Sunday when these correspondents had visited her.

Her voice was hoarse from repeated interactions with the media, and she struggled to complete her sentences.

Asha’s brother squatted on the floor opposite her, looking dazed and exhausted. Every inch of the house was occupied by journalists and relatives.

A few journalists had climbed to the roof with their cameras; others loudly addressed their cameras in different corners of the house.

The family had distributed water in plastic cups to the journalists; these cups now littered the floor.

A woman from the house intermittently got up to sweep them away as an ABP News reporter thrust her microphone into the mother’s face, saying: “Okay, but wasn’t there a delay from your end also in reporting the rape?” Asha’s mother looked back at her, aghast.

After a few more sessions on live television, Asha’s mother got up and went indoors. We sat with her here in silence as she cried and called for her daughter.

“How many times am I supposed to keep repeating what happened to my daughter?” she said. “I’m losing my mind. Where were all these media people when my daughter really needed them?”

We decided not to interview her.

Our correspondents had met with the victim's family on September 27 when they detailed what had happened on September 14, the day of the assault, and the delays in timely medical and legal intervention.