Delhi HC issues notices to Google, FB, others for revealing identity of Kathua rape victim
19 May 2018
The Delhi high court on Friday issued notices to Google, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Bing after their Indian subsidiaries informed the court that they are not concerned entities to reply to court's notice on disclosing the identity of the Kathua rape victim.
The matter relates to the disclosure of the identity of an eight-year-old girl who was raped and murdered in Jammu and Kashmir. The girl, belonging to a nomadic Muslim tribe, was abducted, drugged, gang-raped, tortured and killed in January.
The direction from acting Chief Justice Gita Mittal and Justice C Hari Shankar came after their Indian subsidiary apprised the bench that they were not the concerned entities to respond to the court’s query.
The Delhi high court had earlier slapped a fine of Rs10 lakh each on the media houses that have revealed the identity of the Kathua rape victim. The court had also warned that anyone disclosing rape victim's identity can be imprisoned for six months.
The court observed that several internet platforms and social networking sites were extensively displaying the photographs and name of the Kathua gang rape victim.
Google and other social media platforms have done a great disservice to the nation by uploading contents which revealed the identity of the minor victim, the bench said.
The bench said that the entities cannot absolve themselves for such activities and maintained that the law was the same for everyone.
Meanwhile, the court stayed the proceedings initiated by the Press Council of India (PCI) against some of the media houses for disclosing the identity of the victim.
The court had observed that there were long term repercussion to the victim’s family, especially for the women members, due to such reporting.
The court said they had violated law and were punishable under Section 228-A of the Indian Penal Code.
The court will again hear the matter on 29 May.