Kolkata RG Kar murder-rape case: Pictures, videos of deceased to be pulled down immediately, says CJI

Today, Tuesday, August 20, the Supreme Court (SC) heard a petition filed by lawyers against the disclosure of the identity of the doctor raped and murdered at Kolkata's RG Kar Medical College and Hospital, on social media.

Following this, the Chief Justice of India (CJI) DY Chandrachud mentioned that the grievance urged in the petition was that following the murder, the name of the deceased has been widely disseminated on social media including Facebook, Instagram, and X (formerly known as Twitter). This was mentioned in a tweet by LiveLaw.

The post further detailed how the CJI observed that the pictures and the video clips of the body of the deceased circulating on social media are a clear violation of the Nipun Saxena decision which directed that the identity of the rape victim cannot be revealed

In addition to this, the CJI further said that all the photographs and video clippings of the deceased be immediately removed from all social media platforms.

According to the post, the CJI, in conclusion, said, "We are now disposing of the petition."

Furthermore, the matter was heard by a bench constituting Chief Justice of India (CJI) DY Chandrachud with Justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra.

The background

A female doctor was found dead in a college seminar hall on August 9. An autopsy revealed she was raped and murdered.

The case has triggered nationwide outrage, with doctors across the country going on strike to demand better laws and better protection for medical professionals.