Hathras: Amit Malviya, Swara Bhaskar and Digvijaya Singh draw NCW notice for identifying victim
text_fieldsNew Delhi: The National Commission for Women (NCW) on Tuesday issued notice to Bollywood actor Swara Bhaskar, and BJP's IT Cell head Amit Malviya for revealing the identity of the 19-year-old woman, who was allegedly gang-raped and then brutally assaulted - leading to her death - in Uttar Pradesh's Hathras, by sharing her picture.
Apart from these two, the Commission has also issued a similar notice to senior Congress leader Digvijaya Singh.
".. 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 followers which is prohibited by the existing law," said the notice issued by NCW Chairperson Rekha Sharma.
According to directions of the Supreme Court, there is a bar on the disclosure of any form of identity of a victim of rape or sexual assault. Such identification not only includes the name of the victim but also her picture, address etc.
Under the provisions of the Indian Penal Code, anyone who reveals the identity of a person who is a victim of sexual assault or suspected to be one can be imprisoned for up to two years.
The NCW has also directed the three to immediately remove the posts and refrain from sharing such information in the future.