The National Commission for Women (NCW) served notice to Bollywood actress Swara Bhasker. BJP IT cell chief Amit Malviya and Congress leader Digvijaya Singh also received notices for disclosing the identity of the woman in the Hathras gangrape case, ANI reported. The NCW alleged that Bhasker and the other two politicians shared pictures of the 19-year-old Dalit woman on Twitter and demanded the removal of the posts from the public domain. As per the Indian penal code, disclosure of the identity of a sexual assault victim is strictly prohibited.
Reportedly, any suspect can go to prison for up to two years for the violating law.
"Not only Amit Malviya but others like Digvijaya Singh, Swara Bhasker and many others have revealed the identity of the Hathras victim on social media and others at Jantar Mantar," NCW's chief Rekha Sharma noted. Sharma further added, "I have details of each and every person putting pictures on social media or on posters."
Hathras woman was allegedly gangraped by four men on September 14 and she passed away on September 29 in Delhi, where she was undergoing treatment to severe injuries. Her death sparked nationwide outrage. Her family alleged that UP police “forcibly” cremated her body.
Also Read: Delhi, Hathras And Now Balrampur: India Continues To Be In Denial Of It’s Rape Culture
The NCW has also issued a request to remove the posts and refrain them from sharing such information in the future. The notice was issued based on Malviya's earlier tweet of the 48-second video on Friday, in which he wrote: “Hathras victim’s interaction with a reporter outside AMU where she claimed there was an attempt to strangulate her neck. None of it is to take away from the atrocity of the crime but unfair to colour it and demean the gravity of one heinous crime against another…” In the video, the woman's face clearly visible, the notices claimed.
The NCW also mentioned that Bhasker, Malviya and Singh have been consistently sharing the pictures of the 19-year-old via their social media handles. “In view of the above, you are hereby required to provide a satisfactory explanation to the Commission on receipt of this notice and shall remove and refrain from transmission of such pictures/ videos on the social media as they are widely circulated by your follower which is prohibited by the existing law,” the NCW said in the notice.
Also Read: Hathras Survivor Was Cremated At Night ‘To Avoid Large-Scale Violence’, Says UP Govt
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