The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting has ordered an Assamese television channel off air for three days for violating cable television network rules.
The ‘DY 365’ channel broadcast a news report in June 2016 on a ritual in which a man violently tosses an infant up in the air. The superstition that this ritual will keep a newborn safe is prevalent in some parts of Assam.
Although the report was meant to expose this superstition, the ministry said “the visuals are extremely disturbing and not suitable for unrestricted public exhibition”.
DY 365 presented its case before ministry officials on September 18. The ministry ruled that the programming code was violated and ordered the channel to go off air from December 15 to December 18.
In another order, the ministry asked the Gujarat-based VTV channel to stop its telecast for a day on December 16 for airing in March a four-minute clip in which a man was seen brutally beating up children supposedly in an orphanage in the state’s Valsad district, Times of India reported. Investigations carried out by the ministry, however, revealed that the visuals were from Egypt but were passed off as having happened in Gujarat.
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