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Kathua Rape case: Fines for disclosing identity of the victim
The Delhi High Court issued a fine of ₹10 lakhs (1 million) rupees on twelve media houses in India for disclosing the name of the rape victim as well as other details including the usage of photographs of the victim. This action by the High Court of New Delhi was taken suo-motu and under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012 and the Indian Penal Code. The fine was to be paid within a week. The money collected from the fine has gone to the Jammu and Kashmir Victim Compensation Scheme.[48][49]
The media houses included The Hindu, Times of India, Republic TV, Indian Express, The Week and NDTV. Lawyers representing media houses claim that the mistake was only made because there was a misunderstanding that the law in this case only extended to naming and revealing information related to rape survivors, and not rape victims. Following this, media houses across the country blanked out the name of the victim online in already published articles also
The Reaction in far-out regions and revenge attacks against Hindus in Minority dominated regions did not result in backlash while the Muslim Majority ran on a rampage.
It is alleged that the attacks on children increased after the Kathua rape incident, and if a percentage is taken with a communal divisions the majority of the cases perpetrated against Hindu and the accused being from a minority community is foreseen.
The Social Networks are equally responsible and the Hashtags that made famous via Campaigns wherein Social Networks mint a lot of money popularizing fake reactions to news. In the case of Kathua rape case, Social Networks were not left behind intimidating Hindu practices in Temples. These Social websites run campaigns or induce people to run campaigns without vigilants observing the same with an illicit agreement with mischief mongers who are hellbent to destabilize the country's peace.
