SC slams media: Where's anonymity of Rewari gang-rape victim?
New Delhi, Sep 18: The Supreme Court on Tuesday slammed a section of the media, especially news channels, for revealing the identity of the Rewari gang-rape victim and asked how such disclosures could be stopped.
"Where is the anonymity of victim?" a bench of Justice Madan B. Lokur and Justice Deepak Gupta asked as it questioned an interview of the woman's father by news channels in the presence of co-villagers.
Hearing a plea against media gag on reporting on the probe into Muzaffarpur shelter home case, the bench expressed concern over the revelation of Rewari victim's identity: "There is something wrong... saw on news channel that a girl was raped in Rewari. They say she was a board exam topper. There is only one topper. Identifying her is not a problem at all. Probably, if you google, you will find out. Rewari is not a big city like Delhi, Kolkata... happened to see that by chance on a TV channel.
"They interviewed the victim's father with his back to the camera, but there are 50 people from the village also in front of him. They know him. They will tell 50 more and everybody would know. Now, what's to be done," the bench asked.
The bench expressed concern and asked who should be held responsible for revealing her identity. "Tell us what can be done? What should be done to prevent it? Who is responsible?"
"Where is the question of anonymity. We are concerned about her. How to stop the disclosure of identity..."
Three co-villagers had gang-raped the 19-year-old woman on September 12 after kidnapping her from the Kanina bus stand while she was on her way for coaching classes.
She said that they gave her sedative-laced water to drink and gang-raped her in a room in agricultural fields till she fell unconscious. They later dumped her at a bus stop near her village.
An advocate, assisting the court as amicus curiae, told the bench that the media sensationalize the news and hence there should be its regulation.
The court was hearing a plea that challenged a Patna High Court order to restrain the media from reporting on the investigation into the Muzaffarpur shelter home case, wherein several women inmates were raped.
The bench said it would hear the plea on September 20.
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Trump pauses Project Freedom, claims great progress for final agreement with Iran
Washington (PTI): President Donald Trump has suspended “Project Freedom,” to escort ships through the Strait of Hormuz, claiming progress in negotiations with Iran toward an agreement to end the war.
In a post on Truth Social on Tuesday, Trump said, “Great progress has been made toward a complete and final agreement with representatives of Iran.”
“Based on the request of Pakistan and other Countries, the tremendous Military Success that we have had during the Campaign against the Country of Iran and, additionally, the fact that Great Progress has been made toward a Complete and Final Agreement with Representatives of Iran, we have mutually agreed that, while the Blockade will remain in full force and effect, Project Freedom (The Movement of Ships through the Strait of Hormuz) will be paused for a short period of time to see whether or not the Agreement can be finalized and signed," Trump said.
Project Freedom was launched on Monday to escort ships, stranded due to the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, out to safety. Trump had announced the operation on Sunday and the US Central Command began implementing it the next day.
However, the Project led to friction in the vicinity of the narrow seaway, a key route for transporting one-fifth of the global oil supplies, with the UAE claiming that its ships were attacked by Iran. The US also claimed to have destroyed several Iranian small boats.
Trump’s statement on Truth Social came hours after US Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced that Operation Epic Fury, launched on February 28, had concluded as its objectives have been achieved.
"Operation Epic Fury is concluded. We achieved the objectives of that operation. We're not cheering for an additional situation to occur. We would prefer the path of peace. What @POTUS would prefer is a deal... that is, so far, not the route that Iran has chosen," Rubio told a press conference at the White House on Tuesday.
On Project Freedom, Rubio said the goal was to rescue almost 23,000 civilians from 87 different countries who were trapped inside the Persian Gulf and left for dead by the Iranian regime.
"This is not an offensive operation. This is a defensive operation, and what that means is very simple: there’s no shooting unless we're shot at first. We’re not attacking them, but if they're attacking us or they’re attacking a ship, you need to respond to that," Rubio said.
