SC orders absolute protection of identity of sexual assault victims

Satya Prakash
Tribune News Service
New Delhi, December 11

Lamenting that victims of sexual assaults were being treated as "untouchables" in society, the Supreme Court on Tuesday ordered absolute protection of their identity and ordered the media not to disclose the names and identity of even those victims who have died.

"No person can print or publish in print, electronic, social media, etc., the name of the victim or even in a remote manner disclose any facts which can lead to the victim being identified and which should make her identity known to the public at large," ordered a Bench of Justice Madan B Lokur and Justice Deepak Gupta.

"In cases where the victim is dead or of unsound mind the name of the victim or her identity should not be disclosed even under the authorisation of the next of the kin, unless circumstances justifying the disclosure of her identity exist, which shall be decided by the competent authority, which at present is the Sessions Judge," it said.

Writing the verdict for the Bench, Justice Gupta said, "In case of minor victims under POCSO, disclosure of their identity can only be permitted by the Special Court, if such disclosure is in the interest of the child."

It asked all the states/union territories to set up at least one 'one stop centre' in every district within a year.

"Unfortunately, in our society, the victim of a sexual offence, especially a victim of rape, is treated worse than the perpetrator of the crime. The victim is innocent. She has been subjected to forcible sexual abuse. However, for no fault of the victim, society instead of empathizing with the victim, starts treating her as an 'untouchable'," the top court said.

The issue of protection of identity of rape victims had surfaced when the top court was dealing with petitions filed after the December 16, 2012 rape case in Delhi to support initiatives on women's safety.

Writing the verdict for the Bench, Justice Gupta said, "A victim of rape is treated like a "pariah" and ostracised from society. Many times, even her family refuses to accept her back into their fold. The harsh reality is that many times cases of rape do not even get reported because of the false 3 notions of so called 'honour' which the family of the victim wants to uphold."

The Bench said, "Even after a case is lodged and FIR recorded, the police, more often than not, question the victim like an accused. If the victim is a young girl who has been dating and going around with a boy, she is asked in intimidating terms as to why she was dating a boy. The victim's first brush with justice is an unpleasant one where she is made to feel that she is at fault; she is the cause of the crime."

It said FIRs relating to sexual assaults, including those under POCSO shall not be put in the public domain and in case a victim filed an appeal, she may not disclose her identity.

The top court also ordered police officials to keep all the documents in which the name of the victim is disclosed, as far as possible, in a sealed cover and replace such documents by identical documents in which the name of the victim was removed in all records which might be scrutinised in the public domain.

"All the authorities to which the name of the victim is disclosed by the investigating agency or the court are also duty bound to keep the name and identity of the victim secret and not disclose it in any manner except in the report which should only be sent in a sealed cover to the investigating agency or the court," it said.