Scribe under fire for reporting from shoulders of victim

An Indian journalist has been criticised for appearing on television reporting from the flood-hit zone of Uttarakhand while sitting on the shoulders of a disaster victim. Narayan Pargaien hit the headlines for his unorthodox broadcast for News Express rather than his on the spot presentation of the catastrophe. However, he has denied the suggestion that he exploited the man by sitting on his shoulders while on camera, insisting that the flood victim "wanted to show respect" because he had never met anyone as important as the journalist before.

A video of Pargaien reporting on the floods swept the Internet when it was posted on YouTube last week, with many Indian web users criticising him for apparently using a disaster victim to keep his feet dry. One commenter denounced him as "a disgrace to journalism", while another said he was "a ridiculous reporter".

In an interview, Pargaien, who has nearly two decades of reporting experience, admitted that he was wrong to file the unorthodox report, but said that he only sat on the man's shoulders after the victim had invited him to do so. He also blamed his cameraman for revealing the bizarre arrangement, claiming that he had been told he would only be filmed from the waist up.

"It wasn't my idea to begin with, but there was this man who took me to his home and asked me to report the damage he had suffered," Pargaien told News Laundry. "His house was in a miserable condition and he had lost a lot in the flood, and was left with very little food and water. We helped him with some food and some money and he was grateful to us and wanted to show me some respect, as it was the first time someone of my level had visited his house." �Daily Mail