Vijay Vineet

India

A reporter for the Hindi-language newspaper Jansandesh Times, Vijay Vineet reported that children from a “Dalit” (Untouchable) community in northern India were going hungry as a result of the lockdown and had been reduced to eating grass usually given to cattle. Harassed by the authorities and told to publish a correction, he stuck by his story and additionally provided an analysis of the nutritional deficiencies resulting from a grass-based diet. He is facing a possible six-month jail sentences on a charge of “fake news.”