Asianet NewsableAsianet Newsable

Revealing POCSO victims identity can court trouble: Kerala High Court

  • The petitioner had posted the details of the case on Facebook to pressurise authorities to take action against accused
  • The accused, a teacher, had molested three girl students
  • Court said publishing the details of the victim, even with a good intention, amounts to offence under POCSO
Revealing POCSO victims identity court trouble Kerala High Court

Revealing the identity of a minor, who is a victim of sexual abuse, on social media even without any mala fide intention can court trouble, a recent verdict of Kerala High Court clarified. The court said that any information published on social media, that is likely to reveal the identity of the victim cannot be entertained.
 

The single bench gave the order while considering a petition against the decision of Kerala State Commission for Protection of Child Rights to conduct a probe against a person for revealing the identity of a victim of molestation through Facebook. Irked by the authorities who failed to prosecute the accused in a child molestation case, an activist based in Thiruvananthapuram posted the details, he acquired through Right to Information, on Facebook. His only intention was to pressurise authorities to take action.
 

However, the court said that Section 23 of Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO) Act explicitly prohibits commenting or reporting on molestation victim, which is likely to affect the reputation of the child or infringement on his privacy. 

Though it was clear that the petitioner had no malicious intention but did the act in good faith, the court said Section 23 (1) prohibits any person from giving a report on any form of media or studio or taking a photograph of the victim which might negatively affect his reputation. 
The petitioner had posted case details with the intention to ensure action against the accused teacher who had allegedly molested three school girls.
 

The petitioner, who is a member of a charitable society fighting for the protection of child education made several efforts to pressurise authorities to take action. But as there was no response from the authorities he decided to publish the details on Facebook. However, the post contained the names of victims, their class, division and school, revealing their identity. Though petitioner deleted the Facebook account on the very next day, the court said he had committed an offence under the Act by merely publishing the details of the victim. 

Follow Us:
Download App:
  • android
  • ios