UP Police books Twitter, websites for disclosing Hathras victim's identity

The Uttar Pradesh Police has registered a first information report (FIR) against micro-blogging site Twitter and some other internet portals for allegedly disclosing the identity of the Hathras rape and murder victim.

The FIR no 156/2020 was filed on the complaint of Lucknow-based social activist Dr Nutan Thakur pertaining to the alleged rape and murder case.

The police are now taking steps to get photos, video, and identity of the deceased removed from these named websites.

Nutan had submitted her complaint to the police on September 29, 2020 seeking legal action over the “disclosure of the name of rape victim and widespread circulation of her photographs” on Twitter and other social media sites.

She had also claimed that several Youtube videos revealed the identity of the Hathras victim in “various ways.”

“Several portals, including Twitter had been carrying the photographs of the victim, which prompted me to file the complaint seeking action against such websites, including Twitter, and for the removal of these references from the portals,” Thakur told Business Standard this morning.

She noted Section 228A IPC clearly made the disclosure of identity of rape victim a punishable offence, which had further been reiterated by the Supreme Court in the Nipun Saxena vs Union of India case.

The Chandpa Police, Hathras informed Thakur that an FIR was registered yesterday (Oct 6), while the report was being sent to get the actual photos, video, and identity of the deceased removed from the websites.

The victim, hailing from the Dalit community, was allegedly raped and physically assaulted by four men on September 14. She sustained grievous wounds and later died during treatment in hospital, triggering widespread outrage and protests by the Opposition parties and public alike across the country.

Besides, questions were also raised over the hurried cremation of the victim’s body in the night without allegedly taking the approval of her family. Several cops, including senior police officials, were shunted following the incident.

The Yogi Adityanath government has already recommended a CBI probe, while the Special Investigation Team (SIT) of UP Police continues to investigate the case.