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The horrific gang rape and murder case of a young doctor at Kolkata’s RG Kar Medical College has now taken a new turn, as the Kolkata police has allegedly initiated a crackdown against individuals who allegedly raised their voices about the crime on social media, accusing them of spreading “fake news and misinformation.”
A few netizens have come forward informing that they received official legal notices from Kolkata Police, directing them to delete the social media posts and urging them to refrain from such actions in the future.
One such notice was issued to Twitter user Sunanda Roy (@SaffronSunanda), which read, “It has been observed that you are using social media for posting offensive, malicious and inciting posts. Cyber police Station Kolkata hereby issues notice against you under Section 168 BNSS,2023 for posting such message which may result in a cognizable offence.”
In another case, the Kolkata Police even allegedly visited a Twitter user’s house and asked her to delete a few tweets about the case. Posting about the incident on social media platform X, the netizen (@epicnephrin_e) also said that her parents and family were threatened by the Kolkata Police. As per her bio, she is an MBBS student.
Shefali Vaidhya (@ShefVaidya), an author who had been voicing out against the incident, also allegedly received a similar notice.
Advocate Vibhor Anand, a lawyer who himself faced a similar plight with Maharashtra Police back in 2020, has come forward on social media offering to help netizens who are receiving these legal notices from the Kolkata police.
Speaking about what a user should do in such a case, the Advocate said, “Deleting the social media post, in my opinion, does not make any difference. If the police have issued a legal notice, chances are they already have screenshots and evidence of the post. In fact, taking down such a post could suggest concession or admission of guilt.”
The lawyer said that so far, he has already been approached by three people who received these notices by the Kolkata Police.
