Journalists’ Forum Assam (JFA) expresses profound grief over the demise of west Tripura based video journalist Jitendra Debbarma (46), who succumbed to Covid-19 aggravated complications on 20 October 2020.  Working for a Kakborok cable television channel named Chini Khorang, Debbarma developed Covid-19 like symptoms and admitted to the hospital on Monday where he died next day.

Debbarma tested positive for novel corona virus infection as he was admitted to Khumulwng hospital, which is around 25 km away from the State capital city of Agartala, and his conditions continued to deteriorate. Hailed from Balaramthakur Para in Jirania locality, the soft spoken scribe left behind two minor daughters with other relatives and well-wishers.

Debbarma is the first scribe in Tripura to succumb to Covid-19 complications and third across northeast India. Earlier Assam lost two journalists namely Dhaneswar Rabha (35) and Ashim Dutta (65) to the virus infections. Rabha, who was treated at Guwahati medical college hospital, became the first scribe in the region to die of Covid-19 on 6 September. Next day, Barak valley’s senior journalist Dutta passed away at Silchar medical college hospital.

Till date, nearly 50 working journalists in India have lost their lives to Covid-19, where as the worldwide media corona-casualties rises to 400. JFA President Rupam Barua and Secretary Nava Thakuria, while terming the scribes as corona-warriors after the practicing doctors, nurses, sanitation workers, police personnel etc, repeated its appeal to every media person to be careful and cautious while reporting the pandemic from the ground.

(DIPR)