Rahul Gandhi tells Delhi High Court he will delete social media post revealing rape victim's identity

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Thursday told the Delhi High Court that he will delete the social media post in which the identity of a 9-year-old Dalit girl, who was allegedly raped and killed at a crematorium in 2021, was revealed..Gandhi’s counsel gave an undertaking before a division bench of acting Chief Justice Manmohan and Justice Mini Pushkarna that he will take down the post on X (formerly known as Twitter) after the Court indicated that it may pass an order to direct him to remove the post to protect the victim’s identity."Take down your post. Please seek instructions. We don’t want to pass the order but if you want us, we will pass the order. The identity has to be protected otherwise, it will be picked up by the press around the entire world," Acting Chief Justice Manmohan remarked..The Court was hearing a public interest litigation (PIL) petition filed by an activist, Makrand Suresh Mhadlekar against Gandhi's tweets which contained photos of the victim’s parents.Mhadlekar has argued that these photos revealed the identity of the victim girl and were thus in violation of the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act (JJ Act) and Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012 (POCSO Act).In 2021, the 9-year-old girl had gone to fetch water at a cooler installed at a crematorium in Delhi's Purana Nangal area. The priest there along with three others allegedly murdered and raped the minor. Gandhi subsequently visited the parents of the girl, and photos of him consoling them were later tweeted from his official Twitter handle..Meanwhile, in a twist to the entire case, Delhi Police today told the High Court that there was no scientific evidence as of today to conclude that the girl was raped or murdered.“I do not want to scandalize the issue. I will file a detailed status report in a sealed cover. Unless the first crime (rape) is proved, the subsequent development (Rahul Gandhi tweeting) is not a crime,” advocate Santosh Kumar Tripathi representing the Police said.On the other hand, Senior Advocate Mahesh Jethmalani, representing the petitioner, contended it will not matter if ultimately it is proved that it was a case of rape. “At the time of the post, it was alleged and all the information available with the police was of rape. At that time she was a rape victim. Tomorrow the case may abate. Four people have been arrested for rape in this case. If they [Delhi Police] think she was not raped, they must file a closure report,” Jethmalani said..Considering the submissions, the Court asked the counsel representing the Delhi Police to file a report in the sealed cover and listed the matter for further consideration on January 24, 2024. It also asked Delhi Police to clarify its stand on the petitioner's demand for FIR against Gandhi.