Indian court fines media for naming rape victim
NEW DELHI: An Indian court yesterday ordered 12 media companies to pay US$15,000 each to a compensation fund for victims of sexual violence after they published the name of an eight-year-old girl who was gang raped and murdered.
Indian law prohibits the naming of rape victims, even after they have died, because of the stigma attached to the crime.
The New Delhi High Court ordered each firm to pay one million rupees within a week to be used for a compensation scheme for sexual assault victims.
The law provides for a jail term of two years along with a fine in case of violations. The name of the child, who was killed in Jammu and Kashmir state and has since become the focus of national protests over rape cases in India, was used by several media outlets before a court ordered a clampdown last Friday.
Lawyers for the media firms told the court the mistake happened due to their ignorance of the law and a misconception that they could name her as she was dead, Press Trust of India reported.
The girl, who belonged to a Muslim nomadic community, was kidnapped, drugged and raped over five days at a Hindu temple before being bludgeoned to death in January. The case has dominated news headlines after the harrowing details of the attack were released by police.
Many media houses not only revealed her name but also published her photo, which also contravened the law.
Pictures of the girl have also been used on banners at many protests across India.
Yesterday, India’s President Ram Nath Kovind, a member of the marginalised Dalit community, called the rape and murder ‘heinous’ and ‘barbaric’.
“It is the collective responsibility of all of us to ensure such a thing does not happen with any girl in any part of the country,” he said.