The National Commission for Women(NCW) has served notices to Congress leader Digvijaya Singh, BJP IT cell chief Amit Malviya and actor Swara Bhasker for allegedly revealing the identity of the 19-year-old Hathras victim on Twitter and sought an explanation from them.
The Commission has directed the three to remove the posts and refrain from sharing such information in future.
Disclosure of the identity of a victim of certain offences are barred under IPC Section 228(A) and whoever is found to have flouted it can be punished with imprisonment extending up to two years, and will also be liable to fine.
Despite repeated attempts, Malviya, Singh and Bhaskar were unavailable for a comment.
[On Friday, Malviya had tweeted a 48-second video clip and wrote, “Hathras victim’s interaction with a reporter outside AMU where she claimed there was an attempt to strangulate her neck. None of it is to take away from the atrocity of the crime but unfair to colour it and demean the gravity of one heinous crime against another…”
In the video, the woman could be seen lying on the ground, her face clearly visible. The video is no longer available on Malviya’s timeline.
Congress leader Singh’s tweet is also no longer available, but actor Bhasker’s tweet, which shows the protest at Delhi’s Jantar Mantar on Friday with some placards carrying the victim’s photograph and the actor herself in the frame, was still available on her handle late in the evening.]
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| NCW Chairperson Rekha Sharma |
According to Law
IPC Section 228 (A) says whoever prints or publishes the name of a rape victim, or any matter which may make known the victim's identity, can be punished with imprisonment of up to two years as well as a fine. The NCW had so far withheld notice on the ground that there were conflicting reports on whether the 19-year-old Hathras woman had been raped. But the probe so far has not ruled out rape, which makes it a suspected rape case. The same principle applies even after the victim's death – the law mandates that her identity needs to be protected.
In separate notices to the three, NCW said it has come across several Twitter posts in which the victim’s picture was used. “In view of the above, you are required to provide a satisfactory explanation to the Commission on receipt of this notice and shall remove and refrain from transmission of such pictures/ videos on social media, as they are widely circulated by your follower(s), which is prohibited by existing law,” the notice stated.
On Tuesday, Rekha Sharma said the decision for any criminal proceeding will take place only after the NCW receives replies to its notices.
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