Prostitution charges on actor become headlines but privacy of "high flying businessmen" intact

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The News Minute | September 5, 2014 | 1.27 pm IST

An actor who shot to fame as a child artist was arrested on charges of prostitution a few days ago. Some snippets of the headlines in various news publications accessed online.

Headlines

Some people encouraged me to get into prostitution to earn money: Shweta – Deccan Chronicle

Telugu actress Shweta Basu arrested as police bust prostitution racket – CNN-IBN

Shweta Basu Prasad of Makdee fame arrested for prostitution – India Today

Makdee, Iqbal actor arrested for prostitution says she was short on money - Hindustan Times

Makdee actress Shweta Prasad caught in a prostitution racket – The Times of India

Actress goes from national award winner to prostitution – Rediff

'Makdee' Actress Shweta Basu Took To Prostitution After Running Out of Money – NDTV

Observations: The actor's name freely used in headline.

Now for a portion of the content that appeared in these reports

Somebody tipped off the police about this racket and the cops ended up raiding the hotel. Reportedly Shweta was present there with many businessmen who were also taken into custody. - The Times of India

The police said they have also arrested several well-known businessmen along with the actor. The actor underwent a medical test before being lodged in a rescue home run by the Woman and Child Welfare department. She is likely to stay there for three months. The inmates are provided with free food, clothing, medical care and vocational training. - India Today

Reports said the 23-year-old actor was caught "in a compromising position" after the Hyderabad Police raided a famous hotel at the upscale Banjara Hills in the city. - India Today

The 23-year-old actress was caught in a compromising position, when the police raided a plush hotel at Hyderabad’s Banjara Hills. - Rediff

He adds that the police acted on a tip-off and a Mumbai ¬businessman, along with some others were also -arrested in the raid. - Hindustan Times

New Delhi: Makdee fame actress Shweta Prasad was caught red handed on Sunday for being involved in prostitution racket. Reportedly, the actress was arrested when the Hyderabad Police raided famous Park Hyatt hotel at Banjara Hills. – ABP

The police also caught some high profile businessmen along with Shweta. – ABP

Observations: Actor's name freely used in the story, along wtih terms such as "compromising position", "red-handed", photographs as well.

Conclusion

A woman was arrested on charges of prostitution. What stood out in the reporting was the obvious concern on the part of these media houses in a case involving “immoral trafficking” everybody was careful to avoid mentioning the names of the “high profile businessman” that the actor was caught “red-handed” with, and in a “compromising position”. Almost all publications carried photographs of her as a child and also current photographs.

We are reproducing here the status of The Ladies Finger website, as it reproduced the status of one of its followers on Facebook: “To paraphrase readers Karthik Sharma and Inji Pennu on Facebook "The Times Of India reports that an actor has been caught for prostitution. They have her name, her picture, the "compromising" position (whatever that is) she was "caught", the list of all her movies so as to make sure her career is squashed or people can rush to see her movies with some malicious intent, they have reports on what she said after the arrest and everything but you see we live in India, the Indian woman who prostitutes does everything ALONE with people (ah it could be men -- only a distant possibility) who have no names. So TOI says "The police said they have also arrested several well-known businessmen" - How nice of TOI."

Touching, the media concern for the “high flying businessmen”. Offering sexual services in private is not illegal under Indian law, as this article explains. So that leaves us with the issue of privacy and the dignity of the persons (legally adults) involved.

Why is the media time and again so eager to talk about women in the background of sex, or sexual offences? The answer is obvious. Women are fair game. Men, on the other hand, need to be protected from assaults on their dignity, honour and good name. Most of the media happily obliged in providing this service. What a wonderful world.

There is just one correction. The Times of India is not the only publication which fitted the above description. Almost all of the publications fit the bill.

This report was done after we spoke to a person close to the actress, who conveyed to us that it was necessary to speak up about the reportage on the case.