Bihar: Don't reveal identity of rape victims, SC to media

The Supreme Court on Thursday told the electronic and print media not to publish or telecast any image of the rape victims from Bihar's Muzaffarpur shelter home.

A bench of Justice Madan B. Lokur and Justice Deepak Gupta, taking suo motu cognisance of the issue after a man from Bihar wrote a letter to the court, sought a response from the Ministry of Women and Child Development in the Bihar government.

The court sought assistance from the Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS).

The bench expressed concern over the identity of child rape victims being revealed by print and electronic media and said that even a morphed picture should not be made public.

The Muzaffarpur horror came to light when the Bihar Social Welfare Department filed an FIR based on a social audit of the shelter home conducted by TISS.

The CBI on Sunday took over the case following a recommendation by Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, who has described it as a heinous crime.

--IANS

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