Jubilee Hills gang-rape: Hyd police ask Facebook to delete all videos that reveal victim's identity

Hyderabad: The Hyderabad cyber crimes police station has sent a notice to Meta (formerly Facebook) in connection with the leaked videos of the victim and the accused in the Jubilee Hills gang-rape case.

"We have written to the social media platform to delete the videos revealing the identity of the minor victim," said K.V.M Prasad, ACP cyber crime, Hyderabad. "We are yet to find the source. We have also sent notices to a reporter and a resident in Champapet who shared the videos without any filter," he added.

Intimate videos of the accused and the victim went viral after BJP leader Raghunandan Rao displayed stills of the video at a press meet (which took place on 4 June) alleging that a politician's son was present in the car in which the girl was raped. Thereafter, the video was shared on multiple social media platforms.

The videos were circulated by several people and were also used to victim-shame the girl.

What does the law say?

Section 228A of the Indian Penal Code states that whoever prints or publishes the name or any matter which may make known the identity of any person against whom an offense under Sections 376, 376A, 376B,376C, or 376D is alleged to have been committed shall be punished with imprisonment which can extend up to two years and shall also be liable to a fine.

Section 23(2) of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act says, "No reports in any media shall disclose the identity of a child including his name, address, photograph, family details, school, neighbourhood, or any other particulars which may lead to the disclosure of the identity of the child."

Section 74(1) of the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act 2015 prohibits the disclosure of the identity of minor victims of sexual offences. Under the JJ Act, punishment for the offence is six months imprisonment or a fine of Rs. 2 lakh or both.

The case so far

So far, the police have arrested six people, including five minors, in the gang-rape case. City police commissioner C.V Anand said the sixth accused (also a minor) was arrested on 7 June. He said the child, in conflict with the law, shot the videos to defame the girl in case the lid was blown off the crime. The police currently have five-day custody of the accused who are minors and four-day custody of Saddudin Malik, a major.

The CP also said that the BJP workers had access to the leaked videos. He said the videos only came to him after the BJP workers leaked them. When asked how the BJP got the video, the CP said, "Only they (BJP leaders) can tell."

Two days before his arrest, a police officer told NewsMeter that an MLA's son was inside the red Mercedes Benz in which the minor girl was picked up. However, the police said he did not rape the girl and was not present in the Innova where the crime took place.

All the accused have also been booked under the IT Act for circulating intimate videos shot by them in the Mercedes Benz.

On 28 May, the minor girl was gang-raped by five people on Road No. 44, Banjara Hills. The victim's father filed a complaint on 31 May suspecting molestation after seeing bruises on the girl's neck.