In an incident caught on camera, an ANI (Asian News International) reporter can be seen assaulting a PTI journalist at a political event in Karnataka's Bengaluru.
The incident happened at a press event of Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar and his MP-brother D K Suresh on Thursday.
A complaint has been lodged by the PTI reporter against the ANI counterpart in Bengaluru.
The PTI reporter said that the ANI correspondent physically assaulted and abused her with sexual expletives. The incident was captured on camera and the ANI reporter was seen striking the young woman reporter twice on the face while he was pulled away by other journalists and people in the scrum.
Reacting to the incident, NCW member Khusbhu Sundar demanded action against the male journalist.
"I vehemently condemn the behaviour of the male journalist who is seen physically and verbally abusing the PTI female journalist in Bengaluru today. Want @smitaprakash to take action immediately," she said in a post on X.
Hours after PTI’s tweet, ANI's Naveen Kapoor said in his X post that, "ANI does not in any manner condone or approve of violence by journalists in the field".
He claimed that the PTI post is "selective and seeks to suppress the first attack by the PTI journalist as per what our reporter tells us".
"Our reporter is also filing a First Information Report in relation to the "unprovoked attack" on him. We trust the legal process to take its course and disclose the complete facts," he said.
However, he said, "Till the investigation process is not completed, the ANI reporter has been suspended".
(With inputs from PTI)