Sneha Barve, a 27-year-old journalist, was attacked while reporting on alleged illegal construction in Nighotwadi village near Pune. She was assaulted with rods, causing serious injuries on her arms, back and head on July 4, 2025.
Barve, editor of Samarth Bharat, has been known for fearless journalism and was investigating riverbed encroachment. The assault has created a stir, raising critical concerns about press freedom, police inaction, and political protection.
She Expresses Unhappiness Over Police Action
She talked about the incident to NewsX. In the interview, replying to a question on police action, she said, “I am unhappy because the action taken was very minimal, just nominal charges slapped on.”
She further said, “Pandurang Morde has been accused of serious crimes before he has committed offenses and still behaves like a thug. The people are scared of him around here.”
Pandurang Morde a local businessman whose name came in the case of thrashing her.
“She was Beaten With Road,” Says Sneha
After the incident, Barve is on the bed rest. On a question, “are you going to quit journalism or come back to the field and do stories like this again?”, she said, “No, no, I will definitely come back. But right now, I’ll take some bed rest, get better first, and then I’ll start working again.”
Narrating about the incident, she said, “On July 4th, I went to do the reporting. There was encroachment over the drain. When I went for the reporting, Pandurang Morde and his associates were there. He hit me on the head with a stick, and I fell down. But the people over there said that even after I fainted, he kept hitting me from above. After two days, about 48 hours, I got consciousness.”
Explaining reasons behind the incident, she said, “They were encroaching there, and they probably thought that if I went and reported it later, they would suffer a huge loss. That’s why they got scared and thrashed me.”
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