Nagpur: Following outrage over media houses and organisations revealing the identity of the Hyderabad rape and murder victim, Nagpur Police have come out with an advisory. Citing the Supreme Court guidelines, police have urged media as well as organisations not to disclose name and other details of rape victim publicly.
City police noted that after the Hyderabad incident, media houses have been publishing name and photograph of the rape victim. Some organisations protesting the incident also carried name and image of the rape victim. As per Supreme Court guidelines, no media house or person is permitted to print or publish the name of the rape victim or even in a remote manner disclose any facts which can lead to the victim being identified and make her identity known to the public at large.
Police have warned the media and organisations to be careful in not revealing the identity of rape victims or survivors of other sexual offences publicly as prescribed by law or else stringent action would be initiated against the offenders, said a press release issued by city police.
Section 228A of the Indian Penal Code clearly says rape victims or survivors of other sexual offences prescribed by law cannot be identified without explicit permission. A violation could carry a fine and imprisonment of up to two years. Not only must the name of the victim be concealed, any detail that could make the identity of the rape victim public is illegal.
