Delhi HC fines media houses who revealed Kathua rape victim’s identity

The Delhi High Court said that anyone who would disclose the identity of the victim can be imprisoned for six months.

The Delhi High Court on Wednesday ordered all media houses who revealed the identity of eight-year-old victim in Kathua rape and murder case to pay a fine of Rs 10 lakh each. The media houses who have already received notices will have to cough up the penalty.

Amount collected as fine will be transferred to the Jammu and Kashmir victims compensation fund, ordered the Delhi High Court.

The court further said that anyone who would disclose the identity of the victim can be imprisoned for six months. The next date of hearing in the case is April 25.

Delhi High Court’s ordered came even as President Ram Nath Kovind said that it is shameful that such incidents are taking place even 70 years after Independence. "After 70 years of independence, such an incident occurring in any part of the country is shameful. We have to think what kind of society are we developing. It is our responsibility to ensure such a thing does not happen to any girl or woman," he said.

There has been massive uproar over the recent cases of rapes in Kathua in Jammu and Kashmir and Unnao in Uttar Pradesh. An eight-year-old girl child in Kathua in the Jammu region, who belonged to a nomadic Bakerwal community, had disappeared from near her home in the forests on January 10. A week later, her body was found in the same area, and medical examination pointed towards sexual assault and torture.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi had also expressed his anguish over the incident. Assuring that no criminal would be spared, he had tweeted, "Our daughters will get justice. Such incidents shake our sensibilities".