New Delhi (Sputnik): Popular TV news anchor Om Kashyap is facing a barrage of criticism from medical professionals and netizens for harassing and humiliating a doctor attending to children suffering from the Acute Encephalitis Syndrome (AES) at a hospital in India’s Muzaffarpur town.
A video of Anjana Om Kashyap, Executive Editor of the Hindi news channel Aaj Tak, haranguing and admonishing a doctor in a hospital ward has gone viral.
The majority of social media posts lampooned the journalist for violating medical and media ethics for the sake of winning television rating points (TRPs)
— Dhiraj (@nimjedhiraj1) June 19, 2019
— Sarang Tungikar (@sarang_tungikar) June 19, 2019
— Pawan Dixit #With Jitin Prasada# 💯 (@Pawan00071030) June 19, 2019
— Sandeep shaw (@Sandeep_shaw2) June 19, 2019
In the video, the TV news anchor is seen harassing the doctor- saying that if it wasn't for the camera, he wouldn't have attended to patients for over “one hour.”
Objecting to the charges, the doctor loses his temper and tells her that he is making his rounds, and she has no business accusing him of negligence. Kashyap then raises her voice in anger in response to the doctor's objections to her allegations.
— Payal Anand (@PayalAnand8) June 19, 2019
— Deepshikha (@Deepshi87555277) June 19, 2019
— siDdharth (@reallsid) June 19, 2019
About 112 children have died of encephalitis in Bihar’s Muzaffarpur in the last 17 days.
Indian media, particularly television channels, have been widely criticized for turning a blind eye to the child deaths from encephalitis, instead focussing on issues like doctors on strike in West Bengal and the Cricket World Cup.