Wrong newspaper report of giving birth in toilet puts mother of 9-month-old ‘in a living hell’

Hamida Akter says she and her family are living in fear of public shame ever since Prothom Alo newspaper falsely reported that she ‘gave birth to a child’ in a toilet even though she has a 9-month old infant.

Anxiety was writ large on the face of the worker of Apex Footwear factory in Gazipur’s Kaliakoir, when bdnews24.com caught up with her at Biswasparha in Gazipur on Wednesday.

The youngest of the five siblings of an impoverished family from Mymensingh’s Phulbarhia, she is staying there at the rented residence of her brother.

Right from the running of the wrong news till the issue being dragged to the court, Hamida has found herself in the centre of the storm.

She is tormented by the possible reactions of her neighbours who she fears would think ‘despicably’ on learning about her fresh conception.

Hamida’s brother Lal Mia told bdnews24.com that the “false and exaggerated” news had done massive damage to the family’s reputation.

“We are in a living hell.”

“People are indulging in wild gossips since the news was run. Does it not damage the reputation and honour of our family?” asked daily-wage earner.

The widely circulated Bangla-language daily had erroneously reported on May 10 that Hamida gave birth to a child, though, in reality, she suffered miscarriage.

Taking cognisance of the report, a High Court bench directed the local authorities to investigate the matter.

The local authorities, however, submitted a report to the court stating that it did not find any truth in the report. 

The High Court then asked the newspaper to pay Tk 100,000 to Hamida for publishing the false report.

Lal Mia, a 23-year-old mason, started the conversation with bdnews24.com criticising the role of the media in his sister’s episode.

“We sought justice and we got it,” he said.

When asked to elaborate, he said they wanted justice against the defamation of the family.

According to him, the court’s directive to the newspaper to pay Tk 100,000 to his sister was the justice they were seeking.        

Hamida’s family was so peeved over media’s role that they even lodged a general diary at the local police station accusing the media of spreading misleading information.  

The news run on Mother’s Day took Bangladesh’s social media by storm.

The newspaper, quoting unnamed factory workers and officials, had claimed Hamida was forced to give birth to a child in the toilet after the factory authorities denied her maternity leave.

After the court took serious note of the matter on the very day the report was published, Prothom Alo on May 13 clarified that Hamida did not seek leave from the factory, where she worked.

Nor did she give birth to any child; it was miscarriage, the daily said in a corrigendum.

 Immediately after the miscarriage, Hamida was admitted to Khwaja Badrudduja Modern Hospital at Shafipur.

Assistant Manager of the hospital Sumon Das told bdnews24.com that ultrasonography test revealed that she had a premature miscarriage.

“No way can this be stated as giving birth to a child,” he said.  

Prothom Alo did not take the version of the victim, her family or the hospital authorities before running the report.

It was the first time the newspaper was asked to pay compensation for false report, but on several occasions in the past it tendered apology and drew flak from the court for publishing fabricated news.

Only last year, its Editor Matiur Rahman was spared of contempt of court after he tendered unqualified apology. However, a reporter of the paper, Mijanur Rahman Khan, was punished.

Fabricated news often has an adverse impact on the life of the victim, several researches on the subject point out.

“It is the responsibility of the media houses to verify the authenticity of the news they are publishing,” AAMS Arefin Siddique, Vice Chancellor of the Dhaka University, told bdnews24.com.

“It is their responsibility to check and cross-check news before disseminating it to public.  Such mistakes then can be avoided,” added Siddique, who teaches mass communication and journalism.