Allowing objectionable pics, videos to remain on social media direct affront on a woman’s right to privacy: Orissa HC

0

Cuttack: Orissa Hight Court on Monday raised the issue regarding deleting objectionable photos and videos in the context of the Hindol rape case.

In the said case, the victim girl was in love with the accused for a period of about one year. They are from the same village. On the day of last Kartika Puja, the girl was alone at home when the accused committed rape. He also recorded the gruesome episode in his mobile phone and it was later uploaded the same on a fake Facebook account.

In this matter the Court found that considering the heinousness of the crime, the accused does not deserve any consideration for bail at this stage.

The Court held that, “This Court is of the view that Indian Criminal Justice system is more of a sentence oriented system with little emphasis on the disgorgement of victim’s loss and suffering, although the impact of crime on the victim may vary significantly for person(s) and case(s)– for some the impact of crime is short and intense, for others the impact is long-lasting. Regardless, many victims find the criminal justice system complex, confusing and intimidating. Many do not know where to turn for help. As in the instant case, the rights of the victim to get those uploaded photos/videos erased from Facebook server still remain unaddressed for want of appropriate legislation.

“However, allowing such objectionable photos and videos to remain on a social media platform, without the consent of a woman, is a direct affront on a woman’s modesty and, more importantly, her right to privacy. In such cases, either the victim herself or the prosecution may, if so advised, seek appropriate orders to protect the victim’s fundamental right to privacy, by seeking appropriate orders to have such offensive posts erased from the public platform, irrespective of the ongoing criminal process.”

Leave A Reply

Your email address will not be published.