After alerting Twitter and Instagram, the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) has written to Facebook about posts allegedly “revealing identity of victims” after Congress leader Rahul Gandhi posted visuals of his meeting with the family of a deceased Dalit girl. The nine-year-old girl was purportedly raped and murdered in Delhi last week.
Meanwhile, Twitter on Saturday, 14 August, restored Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's account after it was suspended for tweeting photos of the family of a nine-year-old Dalit rape victim. NCPCR had on 4 August asked the Delhi Police and Twitter to take action over Gandhi tweeting the photo of the girl’s family.
A day after Twitter locked the accounts of the Congress party and a number of its leaders, Rahul Gandhi on Friday, 13 August, posted a video on YouTube registering his protest against the action, for which the party has inculpated the BJP.
"This is an attack on the democratic structure of the country," Gandhi can be heard saying in the video titled 'Twitter's dangerous game'.
"By shutting down my Twitter, they're interfering in our political process. A company is making its business to define our politics. And as a politician, I don't like that."Rahul Gandhi
WHAT DID THE NCPCR CHIEF SAY?
As per PTI, the NCPCR wrote to Facebook asking it to take appropriate action against the Instagram profile of Gandhi, alleging violation of provisions of the Juvenile Justice Act, 2015, and the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act.
NCPCR chief Priyank Kanoongo was quoted by ANI as saying:
“We have received a complaint regarding the uploading of a video on Instagram, which revealed the identity of the parents (of a minor girl raped-murdered in Nangal, Delhi). We wrote to Instagram to take corrective action.”
Kanoongo also said that they had sought a reply within three days, the duration, of which concludes on Friday.
“If we don't get a reply, then we will take action against them under Section 14 of the Commissions for Protection of Child Rights Act, 2005,” Kanoongo added.
CONGRESS REACTS TO TWITTER ACCOUNTS BEING BLOCKED
After the official Twitter handles of Congress and several leaders of the party were locked, Rahul Gandhi on Thursday wrote on Instagram:
“…daro mat… satyameva jayate’ (don’t fear…truth alone triumphs). If showing compassion and empathy is a crime. I am guilty.”
Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi went on to accuse the social media site of “colluding” with the Narendra Modi-led government and aiding in “stifling of democracy”.
She tweeted, “Is Twitter following its own policy for the suspension of Congress leaders’ accounts or the Modi government’s? Why hadn’t it locked the account of SC commission that had tweeted similar photos before any of our leaders did?”
The party had earlier on Wednesday posted screenshots of a message received on their account, which showed that the social media platform had taken the said action because the account had "violated Twitter rules regarding publishing or posting other people's private information without their authorisation and permission".
THE INCIDENT
The nine-year-old Dalit girl, who lived with her parents near the crematorium, was sent by her mother to get water from the crematorium at around 5:30 pm on 1 August.
Around 6 pm, the accused in the case called the mother and showed her the girl’s body, claiming that she had died after getting electrocuted while getting water.
The girl's mother said: "She went to fill water in the evening. When she did not come back for a long time, we started searching for her. The priest (at the crematorium) then called me and said that she had been electrocuted. He said that if we go to the cops or hospital, they will steal her kidney. He said he will do her cremation for free. I saw the burnt body of my daughter and was in shock. Please give me my daughter back."
DCP (Southwest) Ingit Pratap Singh said that as per the girl’s mother's statement, an FIR was registered under IPC sections 304-A (causing death by negligence), 201 (destruction of evidence), 342 (wrongful restraint) and 34 (common intention), as well as the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, SC/ST Act, and IPC sections 302 (punishment for murder), 376 (punishment for rape), and 506 at the Delhi Cantonment police station.
(With inputs from PTI and ANI.)
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