NEW DELHI: The Delhi High Court on Wednesday fined various media houses, which had revealed the identity of the eight-year-old who was allegedly gang-raped and murdered in Kathua district of Jammu and Kashmir. The court directed them to deposit ₹10 lakh as penalty towards the state’s rape victims compensation funds.
The representatives of the media houses have accepted the mistake of revealing the child’s identity owing to ignorance of the law and a misconception that they can name the victim as she is dead.
The bench of acting Chief Justice Gita Mittal and Justice C. Hari Shankar last week took suo-moto action on the publication of photographs and the name of the child during the reportage of the alleged incident.
The Bench recalled the advocates of the media houses that under Section 23 (Procedure for media) of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, any person who discloses the identity of a child victim could be awarded a minimum six months imprisonment.
The bench also suggested that the media houses give wide and continuous publicity to the statutory provisions of law regarding privacy of victims of sexual offences and punishment for revealing their identities.
The High Court has earlier asked for the response of the Times of India, The Hindu, The Statesman, The Pioneer, The Navbharat Times, NDTV, Firstpost, The Week, The Republic TV, The Deccan Chronicle, India TV and The Indian Express on this case.
Earlier the court mentioned that the “nature and manner” of the reportage was in “absolute violation of the specific provision of law disrespecting the privacy of the victim, which is required to be maintained in respect of the identity of a victim.”
Under Section 228A of the Indian Penal Code, anyone who reveals the identity of a victim of sexual violence and rape could be sent to a minimum two years imprisonment. The court said it would take up the issue of social media being used as a tool for revealing and disseminating the identity of the victim of sexual violence at a later stage.
The court has scheduled the further hearing of the case on April 25.
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