The Supreme Court of India has issued a directive to remove all references, including names, photos, and videos, of a trainee doctor who was allegedly raped and murdered at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata, from social media platforms.
The order was handed down by a three-member bench led by Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud, emphasizing that revealing the identity of a sexual assault victim is a violation of the court’s previous ruling in the Nipun Saxena case. This 2018 judgment underscored the importance of protecting the victim’s identity from public exposure.
CJI Chandrachud, addressing the situation, stated, “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.” The court’s directive mandates that all social and electronic media platforms must comply by removing any such content.
The bench, which also included Justices J B Pardiwala and Manoj Misra, was responding to a plea filed by lawyer Kinnori Ghosh and others. The plea highlighted that the victim’s identity and associated hashtags had been widely disseminated across platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and X (formerly Twitter), violating the victim’s right to privacy.
Earlier in the proceedings, the Supreme Court expressed deep concern over the widespread publication of the deceased’s name and images on social media. The court reiterated the importance of maintaining the anonymity of victims of sexual assault, referencing the well-established legal parameters that protect such identities.
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The body of the trainee doctor was discovered on August 9. The Kolkata Police arrested a civic volunteer, Sanjoy Roy, the following day in connection with the rape-murder. The investigation has since been taken over by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), with Roy expected to undergo a polygraph test as part of the ongoing inquiry.
This ruling by the Supreme Court serves as a stern reminder of the legal obligation to respect the privacy of victims and highlights the court’s commitment to upholding the dignity and rights of those affected by such heinous crimes.
