New Delhi:

The Supreme Court on Tuesday ordered the removal of the name, photos and videos of a trainee doctor, who was raped and murdered in Kolkata’s RG Kar Medical College and Hospital, from all social media platforms.

A bench headed by Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud said disclosure of the identity of a victim of sexual assault is a violation of its order passed in the Nipun Saxena case.

“This court is constrained to issue an injunctive order since the social and electronic media have proceeded to publish the identity of the deceased and photographs of the dead body after the recovery of the body.

“We accordingly direct that all references to the name of the deceased in the above incident, photographs and video clips shall forthwith be removed from all social media platforms and electronic media in compliance of this order,” the bench, also comprising Justices J B Pardiwala and Manoj Misra, said.

The top court was hearing a plea filed by lawyer Kinnori Ghosh and others against the disclosure of the victim medic’s identity on social media.

The plea said the name of the victim and related hashtags have been widely disseminated on electronic and social media platforms including Meta (Facebook and Instagram), Google (YouTube) and X (formerly Twitter).

Earlier in the day, the top court had said it was deeply concerned that the name of the deceased was published all over social media.

“Photographs and video clips are all over the media. This is extremely concerning. We are first to recognise free speech but there are well-settled parameters. There are judgments of the court like in Nipun Saxena (case) that names of survivors of sexual assault will not be published,” the top court said.

In its 2018 judgement in the Nipun Saxena case, the top court had said, “No person can print or publish in print, electronic, social media, etc. the name of the victim or even in a remote manner disclose any facts which can lead to the victim being identified and which should make her identity known to the public at large.” 

The trainee doctor’s body with severe injury marks was found inside the seminar hall of the hospital’s chest department on August 9. A civic volunteer was arrested by the Kolkata Police the following day for his alleged involvement in the rape-murder incident.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Kolkata:

In a rerun of the ‘Reclaim the Night’ campaign, hundreds of women took to the streets in Kolkata and other parts of West Bengal on Sunday night, demanding justice for the alleged rape and murder of a doctor in the state-run R G Kar Medical College and Hospital.

Braving intermittent rains, women of all ages and backgrounds assembled in several areas such as Jadavpur, Garia, Behala Parnashree, Khanna, Lake Town, and other city locations, and raised slogans – “We want justice”.

Protests, similar to the August 14 ‘Reclaim the Night’ gatherings across West Bengal, were also held in Madhyamgram Chowmatha in North 24 Parganas, Siliguri, Durgapur, and other locations.

Some protesters carried flaming torches, while others displayed placards, demanding exemplary punishment for those involved in the horrific crime and condemning alleged efforts by parts of the administration to shield the culprits.

Expressing solidarity with the protestors, senior BJP MLA and Leader of Opposition Suvendu Adhikari told reporters, “I urge people to give a call for a march to state secretariat Nabanna so that Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee can hear the voices of protest from her office. Let there be no party colour or flag. I am ready to support the battle of the people as a citizen.” TMC leader Kunal Ghosh told reporters that the BJP was trying to “politicise” the incident.

“The CM is on the side of the bereaved family and already hit the streets demanding exemplary punishment of culprits. The case is now being investigated by the CBI. We all want justice to be done. We all are for the security of women,” he added.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)