A few days after the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) had issued a notice to Twitter India seeking action against senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi for revealing the identity of a nine-year-old girl alleged rape victim, the micro-blogging site Twitter has taken down his controversial tweet.
On Wednesday, Rahul Gandhi had visited the minor girl’s family in Delhi and had tweeted a picture of the parents of the deceased minor girl. The victim, a nine-year-old Dalit girl, was allegedly raped, murdered and then cremated by the perpetrators, who are now in police custody.
Following Rahul Gandhi’s tweet, a complaint was lodged with Delhi Police against the Congress leader for disclosing Delhi’s Nangal rape victim’s identity and thus violating section 23 of Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, 74 of Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 228A of Indian Penal Code (IPC).
Subsequently, the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) had also issued notice to Twitter India asking it to take action against the Twitter handle of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi for violating the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act and Juvenile Justice Act by revealing Delhi’s Nangal rape victim’s identity.
Priyank Kanoongo, the chairperson of NCPCR, had said the child rights body had received a complaint to take action against Rahul Gandhi and directed Twitter to remove the controversial tweets that revealed the victim’s identity.
It appears that Twitter has taken down the tweets put out by Rahul Gandhi, causing a major embarrassment to the Congress party. The tweet does not appear on Rahul Gandhi’s timeline. When one goes to the timeline of Rahul Gandhi, instead of the tweet, Twitter displayed a notice saying ‘This Tweet is no longer available”.
Meanwhile, the Delhi Police has registered a case against four accused in connection with the Delhi rape case based on the statements of the minor’s mother, who had alleged that her daughter was raped, murdered and cremated by the perpetrators on Sunday.
The alleged rape-murder of a 9-year-old Dalit girl
A 9-year-old Dalit girl of Southwest Delhi’s Old Nangal Village allegedly died under mysterious circumstances on 1st August evening. Reports suggest that the girl who lived opposite a crematorium had gone to get cold water from the crematorium’s water cooler at 5:30 pm. About half an hour later, the crematorium’s priest Radhey Shyam (55) and three workers Kuldeep Kumar (63), Laxmi Narain (48) and Mohd Salim (49), known to the family rushed to her home.
They informed the girl’s parents that the minor got electrocuted while taking water from the cooler and lost her life. The girl’s mother who rushed to the spot claimed that the four (now accused and arrested) dissuaded her from filing a police complaint and urged her to complete the cremation.
The mother, however, cried foul and gathered around 200 villagers for forcefully cremating her daughter. The Delhi Police arrived at the location at 10:30 pm on Sunday and took the accused into custody.
ANI on Tuesday quoted DCP Ingit Pratap Singh as saying that basis the mother’s complaint, a case of rape had been registered. He also informed the POCSO Act, SC/ST Act & other relevant sections were added after the deceased’s mother alleged that her daughter was raped and casteist slurs were hurled at them.
While the accused are under arrest and an investigation is on, the cause of death has not yet been determined. Meanwhile, Northwest Delhi BJP MP Hans Raj Hans handed over to Prime Minister Narendra Modi a report on the rape and murder of the girl.
