Identity of rape victims must be protected: SC
The Supreme Court yesterday said the identity of rape victims must be protected at all stages of a case, including during trial, and asked media organisations to refrain from sensationalising it for the sake of increasing viewership, known as television rating point (TRP).
A bench of Justices Madan B Lokur and Deepak Gupta said the Central Forensic Science Laboratory (CFSL) reports and other documents related to such cases should be handed over to the trial court in a sealed cover without disclosing the identity of the victims.
In cases involving children from small villages, “even disclosure of the name of village may contravene the provisions of Section 23(2) POCSO (Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act) because it will just require a person to go to the village and find out who the child is”.
Speaking for the bench, Justice Gupta advised the media to avoid sensationalising rape cases for the purpose of increasing the TRPs and ordered that identity of minor rape victims should not be disclosed even by their families.
Pointing to the harassment that a rape victim undergoes during the course of investigation and during the trial, Justice Gupta, who pronounced the judgment, said the victim is treated worse than the perpetrator of the crime and for no fault of the victim.
“Society instead of empathising with the victim, starts treating her as an untouchable,” he said.
“A victim of rape/sexual abuse is treated like – pariah – and ostracised from the society,” the court said.
“A minor victim of sexual abuse needs to be protected even more than a major victim because a major victim being an adult may still be able to stand the social ostracisation and mental harassment meted out by the society. However, a minor victim will find it difficult to do so,” it added.
The court said this while addressing the question how the identity of adult victims of rape and children who are victims of sexual abuse should be protected so that they are not subjected to unnecessary ridicule, social ostracisation and harassment.
The court dealt with the question of adult rape victims under the Indian Penal Code and that of children under the POCSO, 2012.
The verdict came on a petition filed by lawyer Nipun Saxena, who sought steps for the safety of women in public places.
The petition was filed in the aftermath of the December 16, 2012, Delhi gang-rape in which a 23-year-old female physiotherapy intern died after she was sexually assaulted and tortured in a private bus.