NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Wednesday asked the Centre to deal with an iron hand, cases where rape videos were being uploaded and circulated on social networking sites. It also directed the CBI to bring to justice those committing rapes and sharing videos through messenger services like WhatsApp.
The court slammed the home ministry for sitting idle even after an NGO brought it to its notice one month back that two rape videos were being circulated and shared on WhatsApp.
A social justice bench of Justices Madan B Lokur and UU Lalit, which had taken suo motu cognizance of the two incidents, directed the CBI to trace the person who first uploaded the video. It also ordered the CBI to take the picture of the rapists from the video and get it published in newspapers so that they could be traced and brought to book.
READ ALSO: SC takes exception to rape videos circulating on social media
Additional solicitor general Maninder Singh, appearing for CBI, told the bench that eight FIRs have been filed in one case in which a girl was seen being raped by a man in a video. He said that preliminary inquiry was going on in another case.
“Do it immediately and if possible within two days. If you don’t pounce upon culprits then this will continue happening. It is worse that such videos are being circulated. You must come down with iron hands on people who are involved in it,” the bench said.
At the outset court expressed displeasure that government failed to take any action despite Hyderabad-based NGO, Prajwala, handing over CD of the videos to the home secretary on February 10.
“You tell us what the home ministry has been doing since February 10 and who is this gentleman who received the video clips (given by the NGO),” the bench asked the ASG.
READ ALSO: ‘Gang rape’ goes viral, three youths arrested
The ASG assured the court that there would be no further delay in the case and a nodal officer had been appointed to coordinate with IT department to trace out the person who uploaded the video.
“We are sorry to say but MHA should have got into action in February itself,” the bench, which had on February 26 ordered CBI in the case, said.
The court also slapped a fine of Rs 50,000 on Odisha government and Rs 25,000 on Telangana government for not responding to notices issued by it in the case.
Advocate Aparna Bhat, appearing for the NGO, said that one video was 4.5 minute long in which a girl was seen being raped by a man and the language in the recording suggested that the incident took place in Delhi or Uttar Pradesh. Another video was around 8 minute long in which five men were raping a young woman and the incident took place in a Bengali-speaking region, she said.
TOI | Mar 14, 2015
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