Remove identity details of RG Kar victim: SC tells Wikipedia

Kolkata: The Supreme Court on Tuesday directed Wikipedia to remove from its pages the name of the victim in the RG Kar Medical College Hospital rape-murder case.

A bench comprising Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud, Justice JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra passed the direction during the hearing of the rape and murder case. During the hearing, the Solicitor General Tushar Mehta is learnt to have informed the bench that Wikipedia still carried the name and the photograph of the victim.

A counsel told the bench that when Wikipedia was asked to remove the name, they allegedly refused, saying, “they can’t be censored.” SG said that it was not “censoring” as the law required the identity of a rape victim to be kept anonymous.

The court directed Wikipedia to comply with the direction passed by this bench earlier to remove the name and photos of the victim from all social media and electronic media platforms. “In the interest of maintaining dignity and privacy of the deceased the governing principle is that identity of victim in a rape and murder case shall not be disclosed,” the bench is learnt to have observed.