Supreme Court Orders Removal of Victim’s Identity from Social Media

The Supreme Court mandated the removal of the name, photos, and videos of a trainee doctor, who was raped and murdered at Kolkata's RG Kar Medical College, from social media platforms. The court emphasized that disclosing the identity of sexual assault victims violates previous judicial orders, including the Nipun Saxena case.

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

A bench, led by Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud, stated that identifying sexual assault victims breaches the order passed in the Nipun Saxena case.

The court noted that social and electronic media had published the victim's identity, prompting the injunctive order.

''All references to the deceased's name, photographs, and video clips shall be immediately removed from all platforms,'' directed the bench, which included Justices J B Pardiwala and Manoj Misra.

The bench was responding to a plea by lawyer Kinnori Ghosh and others, protesting the widespread dissemination of the victim's identity on social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and X (formerly Twitter).

Earlier, the court expressed deep concern over the publication of the victim's identity, emphasizing that free speech has limits set by previous judgments like the Nipun Saxena case, which mandates that the names of sexual assault survivors should not be published.

In the 2018 judgment, the court had ruled against the publication of any identifying details of sexual assault victims.

The trainee doctor's body, showing severe injury marks, was discovered in the hospital's seminar hall on August 9. A civic volunteer was arrested the next day for his alleged involvement in the rape-murder.

(With inputs from agencies.)