Kathua Rape Case: Delhi HC Orders Media Houses Who Revealed Identity of Victim to Pay Rs 10 Lakh, Says Amount Will be Transferred to J&K Victims Compensation Fund

The Delhi High Court on Wednesday ordered media houses who had revealed the identity of victim in the Kathua gangrape and murder case to pay Rs 10 lakh each to the court. The court said that it will transfer the amount to the Jammu and Kashmir victims compensation fund.

New Delhi, Apr 18: The Delhi High Court on Wednesday ordered media houses who had revealed the identity of victim in the Kathua gangrape and murder case to pay Rs 10 lakh each to the court. The high court has also asked media houses to whom notices were issued to pay Rs 10 lakh each to the court. The court said that it will transfer the amount to the Jammu and Kashmir victims compensation fund. The Delhi high court added that whoever discloses a rape victim’s identity can be imprisoned for 6 months. The next date of hearing in the case is April 25.

The Delhi High Court had on Friday issued notices to several media houses for disclosing the identity of the eight-year-old girl who was gangraped and killed in Jammu and Kashmir’s Kathua district. A bench of Acting Chief Justice Gita Mittal and Justice C Hari Shankar, which had taken up the issue on its own after coming across print and electronic media reports, had sought a response from the media houses, asking why action should not be taken against them on the matter.

This came after several media houses had named the victim and even shared her picture in their publications and bulletins. Section 228A of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) makes disclosing the identity of a rape victim a punishable offence. (Also Read: Accused’s Lawyer Makes Sexist Remark, Says ‘Probe Was Led by Woman Investigator, How Intelligent Can She Be?)

The eight-year-old girl was abducted on January 10 and allegedly held captive inside a temple in Rasana village of Hiranagar area. She was allegedly drugged and raped repeatedly before being murdered. Her body was found dumped in the adjoining forest area on January 17. The chargesheet filed by the Jammu and Kashmir Police said that the abduction, rape and killing of the Bakerwal girl was part of a carefully planned strategy to remove the minority nomadic community from the area.

It also listed the caretaker of the Devisthan, a small temple, in Rassana village in Kathua, about 90 km from here, as the main conspirator behind the abduction, rape and killing. Sanji Ram was allegedly joined by special police officers Deepak Khajuria and Surender Verma, friend Parvesh Kumar alias Mannu, Ram’s nephew, a juvenile, and his son Vishal Jangotra alias “Shamma”.