Pune journalist Sneha Barve brutally attacked and beaten till she was unconscious

[Content advisory: includes images and text about violence.]

In a heinous attack in broad daylight, journalist Sneha Barve was beaten with a wooden rod till she became unconscious while she was reporting on illegal construction activity in a riverbed in a town near Pune on July 4, 2025. Till date, the main accused, Pandurang Sakharam Morde, a local businessperson with political connections, is yet to be arrested.

The video of the chilling attack began with Barve, founder-editor of Samarth Bharat newspaper and SBP YouTube channel, speaking on video about illegal construction activity on a riverbed in Nigothwadi village near Manchar town in Pune district of Maharashtra. Suddenly, Morde swiftly raised a wooden rod and hit her repeatedly even as she screamed for help.

Images and video of journalist Sneha Barve attacked while reporting illegal construction on riverbed, by Ajaz Sheikh, cameraperson for SBP YouTube channel. 

Barve was literally pounded with the huge rod till she became unconscious. The cameraperson, Ayaz Sheikh, who continued to record the attack, was also beaten when Morde’s aides realised the attack was being videographed. Bystanders who came to her rescue, were also severely beaten and one’s hand was fractured while another got his nose broken.

Barve was rushed to a local hospital and shifted to the DY Patil Hospital in Pimpri Chinchwad. She has sustained head and back injuries, and a CT scan of her head shows an internal concussion and swelling.

Barve, who spoke to Free Speech Collective after her discharge from hospital, said she was in no state to even comprehend the magnitude of the attack till she saw the video.

Barve said there were allegations that Morde had constructed a wall that blocked the riverbed, and this could result in flooding of the vegetable market. “I never imagined that there would be such an attack. I had gone to the spot on earlier and had taken pictures and prepared my script. I wanted to take his version too. But he refused to come on camera and suddenly began hitting me,” she said.

Who is Pandurang Morde?

Pandurang Morde, a local businessman with powerful political connections with both the Shinde faction of the Shiv Sena and the Ajit Pawar faction of the National Congress Party (NCP). Morde has a criminal record and has been charged with murder and attempt to murder in two separate cases lodged in 2003 and 2007 respectively. He secured an acquittal in one case and the other is pending. He is out on bail.

Neither party has made any statement on the attack.

Barve became a journalist eight years ago and decided to launch her own publication and YouTube channel. “I have been working very hard and have uncovered a lot of corruption. No one else does such work in this area,” Barve said.

Barve is no stranger to controversy. Last July, she filed a complaint with Ambegaon police after being threatened by former Member of Parliament from Shirur, Shivajirao Adhalrao Patil, who alleged that her reporting contributed to his loss. A video recording of the exchange was broadcast by local television channels.

“I escaped with my life, but I will not be silent. The attack on me could happen to any woman, any journalist,” she said.

The attack on Sneha Barve typifies the fragile state of press freedom, especially in district areas where journalists are subject to immediate and violent reprisal if they dare to report on corruption and illegal activities by local powers. Last year, a report from Reporters Without Borders (RSF) said that at least 13 of the 28 journalists killed in India since 2014 were working on environmental-related subjects, mainly land seizures, illegal mining for industrial purposes and corruption.

Multiple reports have documented the impunity shrouding these attacks. In its report Press and Planet in Danger, 2024, UNESCO analysis revealed instances in which at least 749 journalists and news media outlets reporting on environmental issues were targeted with murder, physical violence, detention and arrest, online harassment or legal attacks in the period 2009-2023. More than 300 attacks occurred between 2019-2023 – a 42% increase on the preceding five-year period (2014-2018).

At least 44 journalists investigating environmental issues over the last 15 years, of which only 5 have resulted in convictions – a shocking impunity rate of almost 90%.

In this case too, said local journalists who plan to protest (see poster below) the attack, the local police were not prompt in lodging a First Information report (FIR) and delayed arresting Morde.

Dr. Sameer Raje, director of Samarth Bharat Parivar, the organisation which publishes the newspaper and broadcasts the Youtube channel, said that police took the investigation very lightly. Sneha was in no condition to file an FIR but when she recovered, she approached the police with her complaint. However, police said that a complaint had already been lodged by others injured in the attack.

Despite the heinous nature of the attack, the FIR lodged by complainant Sudhakar Baburao Kale has only listed sections relating to grievous hurt, intimidation, unlawful assembly and intimidation (Sec 118 (2), 115 (2), 189 (2), 191 (2), 190 and 351 (2) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, all offences which carry a maximum one-to-two-year punishment!

Superintendent of Police Sandeep Singh Gill informed FSC that Morde is yet to be arrested and he claimed that he sustained a fracture and was admitted to a local hospital.

“We will arrest him as soon as he is discharged. Around four or five persons, including other members of his family (his sons Prashant and Nilesh Morde), have been arrested, Mr Gill said. They have been released on bail.

A preliminary report from local police was that Morde was constructing a wall near the riverbed and locals feared it was illegal. However, the investigation will determine whether it was on public land or not. “The main accused had bought a piece of land owned by five brothers and we have learnt that four of them sold the land, but one brother did not. Possibly, his relatives informed the journalist that Morde was encroaching on government land or public land, Gill said.

Nevertheless, the police would conduct a thorough investigation he said, adding that as soon as he saw the video, he dispatched a senior officer to the site. “Even if he felt the video was bring him into disrepute, he could have complained to police or used constitutional mechanisms available. He can’t resort to violence. He has no right to hit anybody,” Gill said.

“Yes, it is the prerogative of IO to register an offence but sometimes it becomes essential to intervene immediately. She wanted us to register an FIR on her complaint, but we don’t register two FIRs for the same incident and at that time, she was not in a condition to issue a statement, and we took the statement of the person who got hurt. We have asked her to file a detailed statement and if need be, we will enhance the section. I’ll personally look into it,” Gill assured.

(इथे मराठीत वाचा.)