An Indonesion television reporter is reported to have suffered a miscarriage after being beaten while covering a land dispute at the weekend.
Normila Sari Wahyuni, 23, claims that she was interviewing someone in the village of Rantau Panjang in Balikpapan, east Kalimantan, when she was approached by the village chief and several other men.
They first tried to confiscate her camera and then attacked her. "I had told them that I am a reporter and showed my press ID... but still they beat me." She told the Jakarta Globe by telephone:
"I was dragged across the road like an animal… My shirt and trousers were ripped apart. I was one-month pregnant and I had a miscarriage after my body, including my stomach, was kicked by thugs and village officials. They treated me inhumanely."
Normila, who works for Paser TV, was taken by a passer-by to hospital for treatment and then filed a complaint with the east Kalimantan police, naming the village chief. She said her camera was thrown into a pond.
It later transpired that she is the daughter of one of the owners of the disputed land.
In a follow-up Globe report, a police spokesman is quoted as saying the village secretary, Ilyas, was the main suspect. Six witnesses has been interviewed.
Bekti Nugroho, a member of Indonesia's press council, demanded that police punish those responsible, saying any violence towards journalists could not be condoned.
